


Unconventional Theories of Life

by Theriechenbachevent



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 04:10:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5813557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theriechenbachevent/pseuds/Theriechenbachevent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Juvia is raped, and becomes pregnant, Gajeel finds himself as her caretaker and keeper of her peace of mind. </p><p>Juvia, unable to handle the gravity of her situation, runs from the guild taking Gajeel with her. As her pregnancy progresses, Juvia realizes she must deal with her waning feelings for Gray and those for her best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Help Me**

_Mouuu…Juvia thinks she should have stopped after glass number20…_ The water mage groaned to herself. As she blearily looked around at her surroundings, Juvia realized that she was waking up in the aftermath of Natsu and Lucy's couple inauguration party. All around people were sprawled in strange positions. Elfman with his sisters, the three exceeds were lying together in a corner of the guild, Natsu and Lucy were sprawled on the stage with the master in the background. Bixlow was collapsed on the bar, tongue hanging out with Laxus and Fried on the floor in front. She laughed slightly, wincing as she did so, when she noticed Erza passed out in front of a large strawberry cheesecake. Juvia got up, clumsily making her way to the ladies room at the back of the guild near the storage closet, her stomach was eager to empty itself of its alcoholic contents. Her head was _pounding_ and she was beginning to remember with a grimace why she didn't drink in the first place.

Exiting the bathroom, with a clearer sense of mind, though a sour mouth, Juvia took another look at the long awaited couple, and smiled. She wished that she could find a love like that as well. Another survey of the guild confirmed her suspicions, it was well into the night, probably around 3:00 in the morning and every mage in the guild was asleep, judging by the loud cacophony of snores she heard.

" _Mnnghhh."_

A loud clattering sound to her right startled Juvia and she turned around to find a very naked, very _drunk_ Gray Fullbuster limping towards her, eyes half open and unfocused. She blushed bright red and averted her gaze.

"G-gray-sama! Your clothes!"

" _Mnnngh…beautiful."_ Juvia's eyes widened as a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped themselves around her. Almost instantly, the inebriated ice mage lost balance, taking Juvia with him, emitting a small shriek of surprise. Both tumbled down the slight incline and into the open broom closet. When Juvia opened her eyes, she found herself half in the broom closet with her feet sticking out the door. Her attention, however, was focused on the fact that Gray was _on top_ of her, staring at her with eyes she had only ever seen in her dreams.

"Gray-sa – _mmmpf!"_ She was cut off as Gray pressed his lips urgently into hers. Juvia was quickly losing herself in Gray and her last coherent thought was _Juvia must be in heaven.._

When Juvia woke up, she guessed she had been asleep a half hour and blushed as she realized that she was er.. _undressed._ Her heart positively, _trilled_ , as she thought of why she was in such a state. She glanced down at Gray, who was comfortably snoozing, completely sated. She couldn't believe the turn of events and that her beloved Gray-sama _finally_ returnedher feelings. All of her hard work had paid, unconventional though it may have been.

"… _ghhh"_ Juvia froze, stopping in the wearing of her clothes as she listened to Gray sleep talk.

"… _love you.."_ Juvia squealed internally, listening for more. " _…Cana….I love you.."_

Juvia's heart broke as Gray turned over in his sleep. She sat still for a moment, willing herself not to cry. She looked at her body, covered in his marks, covered in marks meant for _her._ Each of the gestures he had made, each sentence he had said had been meant for Cana. Biting back a sob, Juvia finished dressing herself and picked up Gray's discarded shirt near the front of the guild. She padded over to where the drinking card mage was asleep, tucking his shirt into her fist and wrapping the woman's fingers tightly around it.

" _Juvia wishes you luck, Cana-san."_ Juvia whispered to her. She turned then and ran out of the guild, into the night, towards the safety of her Fairy Hills apartment. Juvia ran as fast as she could, unable to bear it anymore. It was too much. Even if it was her Gray-sama, it was too much for him to hold her, and love her and then call out the name of another woman. _It was too much!_

Juvia's thoughts halted as she realized that in her distress, she had wandered into a part of the city that she was unfamiliar with. It was unusually dark given that this area, though uninhabited by unconventional residents, _was_ inhabited by mages down on their luck. Juvia turned to leave but squeaked in fear as she came face to face with a group of what looked like rogue mages.

"Hello there pretty lady." Juvia tensed as a voice sounded close to her ears, keeping low and filling her with a crawling feeling she definitely did not enjoy. Juvia forcibly squared her shoulders, forcing the fear away.

"Juvia thinks she will leave now." As she made to leave, a hand came down on her shoulder rather heavily.

"Oh but dear little Juvia," He said, mocking her speech, "will stay right here, or things are going to get ugly." A moment of clear vision enabled Juvia to see her captor and was unimpressed. He was a large man, in his mid to late 30s, with oily hair and a complexion that indicated a lack of personal hygiene, something that was backed up by his smell. He was pudgy and seemed to dress in outfits that should have depicted wealth, but instead pointed towards cheap, second hand clothing made to imitate the wealthy. She could see the intent clearly in his eyes and faltered for a second. Her eyes flashed suddenly as she straightened. What was she afraid of? She was a Fairy Tail Mage! She had nothing to fear. Juvia began to make twirling motions with her hands as she zeroed in on barrels of water near the walls of the opposite building.

"Juvia is not afraid of you!" She was caught by surprise as the man caught her wrists and snapped handcuffs on them. She smirked confidently.

"Handcuffs cannot stop Juvia! Juvia is _made of_ water! Water Slicer!"

Instead of the expected screams and the comforting splash of water, Juvia heard silence. Confused, she tried again.

"Water Slicer!" Still nothing. She looked at the cuffs. Hearing an amused chortle from the man, she looked up at him.

"Anti-Magic Lacrima," he said, tapping it lightly. "Have to say it comes in handy." A swift kick to the back of her knees knocked Juvia flat on her back. She felt the man straddle her as sweaty hands groped her through her clothes. Clenching her eyes, Juvia willed herself away from the experience. Suddenly, there was searing pain.

" _AUUUGH_!" She screamed, and thrashed, only to be held down.

"Remember my name bitch!" The pain increased.

_Someone…please…..Gray…Gajeel…Help me._


	2. Leaving

**Chapter 2: Leaving**

"Hey. Bookworm." Levy jumped at the voice of the Iron Dragon slayer jolting her out of the latest of Lucy's novel. She looked up to see Gajeel behind her, fidgeting and looking around the guild.

"Gajeel? Good morning!" She said, wincing as her voice climbed an octave higher than she was aiming for. Next to her, Lucy giggled and then stared non-commitally into her magazine, ignoring the dirty look that Levy shot her.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, you seen Juvia? She hasn't been to the guild in a month or somethin'." Levy raised an eyebrow at that. She knew he probably did care about Juvia a little more than the rest of them since she was with him in Phantom. Lucy looked up at the question, looking between the two. She realized she hadn't had to defend herself against Juvia in a while.

"You're keeping tabs on Juvia? Didn't know you cared Gajeel." He flushed, avoiding her eyes as Levy and Lucy grinned at him.

"The answer, squirt?"

"I have a name okay? And Juvia's sick I think. She went out on a solo mission after Lucy's party and came back with a cold. Said she was nauseous and stuff. She locked herself in her room so she wouldn't get anyone else sick. We _did_ send Wendy to check on her though. Seemed fine." Just then, Gajeel heard the guild doors open and saw the water mage walk in.

"Oh there she is now. Guess she must be feeling better." Lucy said, pointing to her in case Gajeel had missed her entrance. Gajeel thought she still looked tired but chalked it up to exhaustion from being sick. He nodded to Levy and went to resume his beside Pantherlily who was currently counseling Happy over Charle rejection. Again. Now that Juvia was feeling better, he could concentrate on himself. He'd picked up some grade A metal that we was looking forward to eating. He glanced up again and was surprised to see Juvia making a beeline for him instead of watching and playing cheerleader to Gray in his daily fight against the Salamander. He cocked an eyebrow as she approached within hearing distance.

"Yo Rai-." He paused and sniffed. Something was off about her. Way off. Juvia smelled like...

Juvia squeaked in fright when Gajeel abruptly got up, grabbing her wrist and proceeded to haul her out of the guild in a flash.

"W-wait! Gajeel-kun!"

The only one to notice their sudden departure was a celestial mage with very keen eyes.

. . .

Gajeel dragged Juvia through the streets of Magnolia, ignoring the stares they were getting. He needed to talk to her alone. He didn't need prying ears listening in on them. So he took her to his house, only a fool would dare to eavesdrop on him in his own house. Once they were inside his house, Gajeel turned to Juvia, arms crossed over his chest.

"Anything you want to tell me Juvia?" Juvia couldn't hold his gaze. She felt so ashamed. So dirty. What would he say? He probably wanted nothing to do with her after this. _He probably thinks Juvia is a slut._

"You know already don't you? You can smell it can't you?" Gajeel sighed and leaned against the wall of his living room.

"Yeah, I know. What I want to know though, is how? What happened? Is it...is it the strippers kid?"

"I ...I dont think so Gajeel-kun." Gajeel got off the wall and faced her properly.

"You don't _think_ so? Do you have a secret boyfriend I don't know about? Wait a second...when did you start seeing the stripper?" All of a sudden, Juvia seemed to withdraw into herself. She clutched her coat closer to her and tried shrink away from him. Almost as if she thought he was judging her. Gajeel suddenly realized that something bigger was going on. She was wearing her baggiest coat, the one that covered her from neck to toe. it was mid September, she wouldn't usually wear something like that, not without ample cause. And he doubted it was because she had run out of clothes.

"Juvia?" He led her to his couch and sat her down, aware of the fact that she shrunk from his touch.

"Juvia? Hey. What's going on? What happened?" She remained silent, looking steadily at the ground at her feet. Gajeel sighed. He didn't like doing this. Caring, feeling like he had to help people. But this was Juvia. They had a connection he couldn't put into words. She'd seen him at his worst. She still saw him as her friend. Though he would sooner die than admit out loud, he'd promised himself a long time ago that he would always look after Juvia and pulverize anyone that made her cry. He didn't know what had happened but he knew he just couldn't let this go.

"Juvia. I can't help you .if you don't let me. You need to tell me what happened." Juvia sent him a furtive glance and looked back down at her feet, shuffling them. She then mumbled something that even Gajeel couldn't pick up.

"What?"

"Natsu and Lucy-san's party."

"Yeah, what about it?" He wasn't normally this patient, but something told him that right now he needed to be. Forcing it out of her made it feel like he would only alienate her instead.

"G-gray-sama...Gray and Juvia...we...Gray was drunk and..."

"and you had sex with him." Gajeel finished for her. She nodded and looked down. He didn't understand. That was good wasn't it? She was always fantasizing about him, always wanting him. Didn't this mean he wanted her too?

"Good. Then he likes you too." He was honestly surprised when Juvia shook her head meekly at him.

"Gray-sa ...he likes Cana-san. Juvia believes that he mistook Juvia for Cana-san." Gajeel stared at her. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"What? You telling me, that the ice moron thought you were that crazy drunk booze chick and did you?" She nodded, her cheeks coloring.

"If Juvia is lucky, he will think it was a dream."

" _This,_ " He said, pointing to her stomach that was still flat. "is not a dream Juvia. Are you telling me you're going to raise that bastard's child by yourself?!" Juvia seemed to shrink away at his accusing and angry tone. She averted her eyes.

"Juvia told Gajeel-kun, Juvia doesn't think the child belongs to Gray - to Gray." She finished. She seemed to be trying to kick her habit of calling him Gray-'sama' Gajeel noted on the side as he tried to understand what she was trying to tell him. Her shoulders began to shake and Gajeel realized with panic that she was crying. Crying girls he could deal with. Juvia crying? Oh no. She had never cried in the years that he known her. Even when she was in pain.

"Oi, oi. Wait! Don't cry! Seriously, just, just tell me, if it wasn't Gray, then who was it Juvia?" At this point Juvia's words became unintelligible but Gajeel had caught a word in the muddle that made his blood run cold.

" _Rape?_ Goddammit Juvia, you were raped?!" His voice rose unintentionally and he instantly regretted it, seeing her flinch away from him.

"How did it happen Juvia?" He asked her in a voice he hoped was soothing. He had watched Lucy and the other girls when they tried to calm someone down. He didn't like that he had to use this method, but he supposed he didn't have a choice. "I'm not judging you Juvia, I just want to go kick his perverted ass."

Juvia turned her tearstained face to him.

"Juvia was taken by Gray and then tossed aside like a used rag. Juvia was upset Gajeel-kin. She didn't mean to be stupid. Juvia was trying to go home and she got caught by rogue mages. He...they.." Gajeel put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "It's okay. I don't need to anymore. that's more than enough information to get him. But why didn't you kick his butt? You could easily have taken him out."

At this, she held out her wrists and Gajeel saw the purple bruising around them.

"Anti-magic lacrima." She said softly, tears falling as she bowed her head. "Juvia never saw it coming." She took off her coat, now seeming to have to tell it all in one go. That if she stopped now, she'd never be able to say it again.

"He tore into Juvia. Over and over again. Juvia yelled and screamed. No one came. No one helped me. Instead, he did this to Juvia." She yanked the neckline of her shirt on the inside down and Gajeel instantly caught the scent of burnt flesh, recoiling slightly. He saw a brand mark just beneath her collar bone, a symbol of a knights shield. The skin around the burn was red and raw, in horrible juxtaposition to her beautiful alabaster skin. He looked at her and saw her eyes filling with tears and she began to pace around the room.

"He called Juvia a bitch. Don't you see? Juvia is dirty now. She is filthy. No one will take Juvia now that she's been used. Juvia knows she's been wicked. She knows she wasn't a good person. But Juvia was trying to change! She was trying. Why was Juvia this way?! " Juvia began to pull her hair becoming hysterical. Gajeel tried to calm her down.

"Juvia stop it!"

"No! Let Juvia go! Let her go!"

She struggled against him now, kicking and hitting anywhere she could reach. Gajeel couldn't get through to her.

"Juvia, Juvia stop. JUVIA!" He had had enough, and had grabbed her by the top of her arms and shook her violently, effectively garnering her attention. He absentmindedly brushed the hair out of her face.

"You are not dirty Juvia. You aren't filthy and you most definitely aren't wicked. People make mistakes okay? You and I made ours together, but that doesn't make us bad people. Alright? Do you understand?" Juvia looked up at him, eyes wide and watery. She nodded timidly. Gajeel let her sit back down, groaning. He didn't like doing this. This was way too much for him. He didn't like handling things like this. But what choice did he have? He tried to think of what they would do from here.

"Gajeel-kun?" He heard Juvia's hiccupping voice call him. He turned to her.

"Will you take Juvia away?" His eyes widened as he stared at her.

"What?" She stared at him determindly as she stood up, eyes still teary. The only difference was the hardness in her eyes.

"Juvia cannot have the baby while she is in Fairy Tail." Gajeel was stunned.

"Wait a second, are you telling me you're going to have the pervert's kid?!" He cried, staring

incredulously at the young woman.

"Gajeel-kun, it isn't the child's fault how he was concieved. How can Juvia justify killing him?!" She put a hand on her stomach. "Juvia just wants some time to cope with this. Juvia cannot do it with Fairy Tail near her. Maybe Juvia will come back after, but right now, Juvia just wants to leave. Please."

With her looking at him like that, Gajeel knew he couldn't refuse. He couldn't leave Juvia to do this alone.

"Please Gajeel-kun. It's the only thing Juvia will ever ask you."

He was going to have to explain this to the master somehow. Somehow, he was going to have handle this.

"Fine. We'll leave."


	3. Home Sweet Home

**Chapter 3: Home Sweet Home**

That afternoon saw Gajeel and Juvia standing in the masters office, feeling very out of place. They weren't used to this yet. They had just gotten used to the fact that they _had_ nakama and now they had to leave? Unthinkable. And yet, it had happened. When they had walked into the guild, Gajeel was hyper aware that it could very well be the last he saw his guild mates for a while. Even Pantherlily. He was honestly surprised at how the thought made him feel...sad. An emotion he had forgotten even existed. He found that he didn't like it.

Go figure.

So here they stood. He waited for Juvia to say something. He saw the master staring between him and Juvia, confused that neither was saying anything.

"Well? You two came up here for a reason. What is it?" He smoked his pipe, and glanced at Juvia who was looking at the ground, pale as a sheet.

"Juvia, what happened. Why do you look so scared?" Gajeel groaned and realized that she had no idea how to say this to a stranger. Not that he was one, but he wasn't their best friend either.

"Look old man, Juvia well Juvia and me both need to leave the guild for a while. " Makarov's eyes widened fractionally.

"Leave? Why would you need to leave? If you're leaving on a long mission, you don't need to come up here and tell me. Just make sure you tell Mira-Jane." He hopped off his chair. "If that all then -"

"No, I mean, we're leaving Master." Master stopped and sighed. With out turning to them, he asked.

"Why?"

"Juvia's pregnant." Gajeel said bluntly, ignoring Juvia's cry of _"Gajeeel-kunnn!"_

The master whirled around, visibly surprised, clearly not expecting that to be the topic of the conversation.

"Isn't that good news?! Who's the lucky father? Is it you Gajeel?" He said noticing the instant rigidness

of their bodies. Both were red in the face and sputtering.

"No!"

"God no! What's wrong with you! We're nakama!"

"Hmm. Gray then?" Master mused then. He was startled to see the despair settle over Juvia's face at the name instead of the fangirling that usually took place.

"Juvia?" Gajeel took over again, seeing as Juvia didn't seem to able to say it again.

"Look Master. There's no easy way to say this. Someone took advantage of Juvia a month ago on her way home. They used anti-magic lacrima." Gajeel grabbed Juvia's hand and showed him the bruises, seeing the master's eyes narrow dangerously at the sight. "Juvia thinks she's pregnant with the bastard's kid. She wants to raise the kid though, says its not his fault that he was made the way he was." Makarov's eyes softened as he looked at the water mage.

"Juvia," he went up to her and peered into her face. "There's no reason to be ashamed. What happened to you was not your fault. It could have happened to anyone. You don't need to leave. We can all help you raise the child. We're family, remember?" Juvia looked up at him a pained expression on her face.

"Juvia knows Master. But, but Juvia just _can't._ She can't stand him knowing that he left Juvia with another mark of his attack."

"Another mark?" Juvia pulled her shirt neck down again, displaying the still healing brand mark on her chest. The Master almost seemed to rumble with rage at first glimpse of it.

" _Who dared to do this to my child?!"_ Juvia, startled, put her hands on his face to calm him down.

"Master, Juvia must leave. She can't handle people staring at her with pity. It would break Juvia." Master sighed. He knew he had to let her go, but he promised himself inwardly that he would find the attacker and beat him senseless. He brightened suddenly.

"I have just thing!" He went back to his desk and began rummaging in his desk. Finally finding what he was looking for, he raced back over to Gajeel.

"Over in the next town you two, is a cottage that I own outside the city limits. It's only 1 hours train ride away and Gajeel can still come to the guild to earn money for the two of you as well as look for the bastard that did this to you." He looked at the two of them. "How does that sound?" Juvia and Gajeel looked at each other. It seemed good. They were still close enough to come get help if they needed it and it saved Gajeel the effort of finding them a place to live and a new job.

"We'll take it."

… ... ...

They descended the guild stairs with Juvia keeping her gaze to the ground, to avoid looking at Gray. It still hurt to see him flirting with Cana; even hearing his voice as he yelled insults to Natsu sent sharp pains to her heart. Gajeel allowed himself a moment to think about what had just happened. He still had to figure out what he was going to tell Levy and Pantherlily about why he was leaving and why he wasn't coming. He supposed he had to tell Wendy, seeing as she was the best healer in Magnolia, or so he thought any ways. He didn't trust the medicine lady. They were stopped by Mira as they passed the bar.

"Did you get what you needed Gajeel-kun? Juvia?" Juvia forced herself to return the barmaid's friendly smile.

"Yes, Juvia got it. Thank you Mira-chan."

"Oi! Juvia!" Juvia froze as Gray called her name out. "Fight me! I want to finish that fight we started in Phantom! I'm stronger now and so are you! itll be interesting!" O _h my god. He's talking to Juvia. What to do?! Pretend nothing is wrong. Smile! Smile Juvia, Juvia must smile and say no! Okay here -_

Juvia was still figuring out what to say when Gajeel suddenly punched the ice mage.

"What the-?!" Gray stumbled back up from the pile of splintered tables. "You bastard! Wanna fight?!" Gajeel snorted.

"No." With that he and Juvia left the guild, leaving their audience confused with Juvia hissing at him.

"Gajeel-kun, what did you just do?!"

"Taking revenge. Or getting started in taking revenge actually." Gajeel simply. "Listen, you better go to your dorm and pack your stuff. If you wanna leave, we might as well do it now. It'll take some time to set up." Juvia fell silent, realizing she was really leaving her family behind. "I'm going to my place to get my stuff and talk to Lily about this." Juvia suddenly became aware that she had forced him to leave with her and was suddenly filled with regret.

"Juvia is sorry Gajeel-kun. You don't have to do this. Juvia never even asked you if you want to do this with her. She just ordered you to." Gajeel grabbed the top of her head, giving her a sort of feral smile.

"Let's get something straight woman. You haven't _forced_ me to do anything. Trust me, if I didn't want to do this, I never would have said yes. Who told you it was so easy to control a dragon? You're going to have to try a lot harder if you want to _make_ me do anything. Now let's go." He turned away and began walking to his house.

"Gajeel-kun?" Gajeel turned around to find a blushing Juvia clutching her hands to her chest and shyly looking at him.

"Juvia is thankful that she has Gajeel-kun as Nakama."

"Uhhh. Yeah well...whatever." Gajeel speed walked away, feeling unusually hot under the collar.

.. … …

2 hours later, the two met at the train station.

"Ready?" Gajeel asked, hoisting Juvia's bag on to his shoulders despite her protests. She took one last look at the town she'd called home for the last year. Squaring her shoulders, she looked at Gajeel and smiled.

"Juvia is ready."

The two stepped onto the train and ten minutes later, the train sped away, carrying with it a passenger who was about to go through the most difficult trial of her life.

… …. …

"Was that Gajeel and Juvia?" Natsu asked as they passed the train station. Erza turned and strained her neck to look at the station in time to catch a glimpse of the people in question as the boarded the train. What was odd was that Gajeel was carrying all of Juvia's things and was helping her onto the train.

"Yeah. It was. Wonder where they're going?"

"Maybe a mission?" Gray suggested rubbing his jaw. "Either way, when the bastard comes back, there'll be hell to pay for that punch earlier." Natsu laughed.

"Sore loser Ice Popsicle?"

"I didn't lose flame brain!"

"What'd you call me?!"

"You heard me!"

"Are you boys fighting?"

"NO MA'AM!" They were suddenly best friends, engaging in some sort of friendly chokehold.

Lucy rolled her eyes as she listened to Erza scold Natsu and Gray. Or beat them rather. Her concept of scolding was rather violent. She thought back to Gajeel and Juvia this morning. There was something going on. Something big. Her gut told her that something had happened and it wasn't good either.

"You guys. Something is up with those two. This morning Juvia came to talk to Gajeel and he just hauled ass out of the guild like his feet were on fire." Erza turned her attention to Lucy.

"Are you sure? They haven't been here very long. Maybe they just don't like speaking to each other in public." Lucy shook her head.

"No, no. I can't explain it. But something about Juvia was different." Erza thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"We'll find out when we get to the guild won't we? It's not like we can ask them now can we?" Sighing, Lucy nodded and followed her friends to the guild. She just had this nagging feeling that something was wrong. And that scared her more than anything.

Knowing something was wrong and not being able to do anything about it.

… … …

Gajeel groaned as he practically collapsed outside of the train.

_"Never_ _again. You hear me woman?! I am never riding the train again."_ His world was spinning and it felt like his lunch would come spurting out of him any moment.

"Gajeel-kun! Are you alright?!" Juvia clamored out of the train behind him, kneeling over his collapsed figure, worriedly.

"Fine. Just fine. Now get up. Wendy said no squatting remember?" He was getting tired. He hadn't talked this much in his entire life than he had started to since Juvia had dropped the mega-bomb on him this morning.

"Juvia is not squatting ! Juvia is kneeling! There is a difference, squatting is very unladylike!" Juvia huffed indignantly, pouting. It seemed to Gajeel that leaving Magnolia had taken a weight off her heart. She seemed calmer now that she had done what she had said she would.

"Tch, whatever. Just don't do whatever it is that you're doing." He said as she helped him haul himself to his feet. He had been briefly told by Juvia what the rules were for the pregnancy according to a midwife she had visited. She had written it down and given it to Gajeel since she had memorized it already. Gajeel's head had spun with all the information at first. He hadn't thought he would have to deal with this until he himself took a mate...but clearly life had other plans for him. He shook his head as he hoisted the bags onto his shoulder again and looked at Juvia.

"Okay, so which way to the house?" Juvia fumbled in her pockets for the map that the Master had given her, giving her directions to the cottage.

"This way." She said after a minute of studying it, pointing east. Gajeel re-set the bags and blew out a breath.

"Let's move."

30 minutes later, they found themselves in front of a quaint little cottage. It had a straw roof, a little brick chimney, and was surrounded by a white picket fence that encompassed the house and small garden in the rear of the house. They opened the gate and walked to the gate looking at the forest surrounding the house.

"Geez, when did the geezer make this place? It's ancient, and in the middle of nowhere." Gajeel said, looking around him. All he could see were trees despite the fact that he knew they were just a five minute walk into the forest. Juvia giggled slightly.

"Juvia likes it. It's ….different. And Juvia likes different." She opened the door and walked in. Gajeel walked in after her, dropping the bags on the floor and turning to close the door. He took one last look outside the house, it was near sunset at this point.

"Well," he said, somewhat sarcastically, surveying the front yard and the forest ahead. "Here we are, home sweet home.

 


	4. Settling In

**Chapter 4: Settling In**

Juvia walked around the house that was to become her home for the next...well indefinite period of time. She seemed to feel lighter since leaving Magnolia, which she chalked up to relief of being out of range of her attacker and Gray. She could just live as she wanted and didn't have to worry about any of them.

"Juvia?" She heard Gajeel call her from downstairs and looked down the stairway calling back to him.

"Juvia is upstairs Gajeel-kun!" His heavy footsteps climbed the stairs until he joined her in what she assumed was the main bedroom of the house. The house was pre-fitted with furniture. The master bedroom had an elegant wrought iron bed, with fluffy, albeit slightly dusty covers and pillows.

"Juvia likes it here. Its so...peaceful." She smiled blissfully walking around the room as Gajeel watched her.

"Okay, well, that's good. But don't do anything when I'm gone okay? I'm gonna have to take missions, but I'll try to take day long ones, so you won't be alone. " Juvia nodded, suddenly looking pensive.

"We really are on our own aren't we Gajeel-kun?" She asked him, looking out the window.

"Yeah, well, sometimes, you have to be alone. It's how the world works." He stretched, the day had definitely taken its toll on him. He was already dreading the return trip to Magnolia in the morning. But he had to look for work, he also had a rapist to find. "Okay, I'm gonna find a bed to crash in. See you later." He was halfway out the door when Juvia called out to him.

"Wait, Gajeel-kun!" He looked at her, standing in the middle of the room, toying with her sleeve.

"Juvia...Juvia thinks...well she wishes for Gajeel-kun to stay with her." He stared at her. She couldn't possibly mean...?

"The bed is big enough for the two of us Gajeel-kun." She didn't meet his gaze. "You are leaving Juvia tomorrow aren't you? Juvia doesn't want to be alone on her first night here." Gajeel groaned, suddenly crouching on the floor.

"I swear woman, you're killing me." He got up and ruffled her hair.

"If that's what ya want then fine. But don't say I didn't warn ya. Lily says I snore like a chainsaw."

Juvia laughed.

"Juvia doesn't mind, but Juvia warns Gajeel-kun, Juvia moves in her sleep a lot."

That first night, and for the first time in a while for Juvia, in the new Redfox-Locksar household, the new tenants slept peacefully through the night.

… … …

"Yo, Mira! Fire Chicken!" Natsu yelled, bursting through the guild doors.

"Hai Hai," the barmaid said, looking away from her conversation with Levy to smile at Natsu and the others as they filed into the guild.

"Mira," Erza leaned on the counter as she prepared the Salamander's food.

"Yes?"

"Did Gajeel and Juvia go on a mission together?" Mira Jane looked up from her cooking to her friend and then walked over to signout desk, rummaging through the notes.

"Uhm..not that I can see, no. Why?" She looked at Lucy and Erza's pensive looks curiously.

"They just left Magnolia on the afternoon train, with bags and suit cases." Mira's eyes scrunched in confusion.

"Juvia left?" Gray said as he and the others joined the conversation, catching the attention of the guild members.

"Yeah, " Lucy said, pacing worriedly. "She was with Gajeel and they had a huge amount of luggage with them. Seemed like they were planning on being away for a while." Erza thought for a moment.

"Well if her things are still in her apartment, then I guess everything will be fine. She's bound to come back soon right?" She looked at the others for reassurance.

"Yeah."

"Well of course."

"She loves Gray so she's obviously gonna come back."

At that last statement from Happy, Gray scratched his head. He felt like he was forgetting something important. _Ahhh, whatever. It'll come to me later._

Watching from the loft, Makarov shook his head. All hell would break loose soon. He hoped the ensuing brawl wouldn't send him to an early bankruptcy.

… …. …

Gajeel opened his eyes to find himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling,

_Ah? That's not my roof. And my room isn't even this bright. What the he -_

"Mghh." A shift in the bed drew his attention away from his confusion as he turned to his right to see Juvia sound asleep next to him, using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Guh-waah!" Gajeel shot up and scrambled away from her, falling backwards off the bed in the process. He lay there panting as he checked himself over, relieved to discover that he was still wearing his pants, even if he was shirtless.

"Gajeel-kun?" He looked up to see Juvia peering blearily at him from the bed, hair mussed from sleep. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Um, ah nothing." He looked over at the clock and grunted. "Damn. I've gotta go anyways. Gotta find work." Juvia seemed to wake up at that statement. She looked down at the bed and picked at the threading on the comforter sheepishly.

"Juvia is sorry that Gajeel-kun has to do this for her. " Gajeel rolled his eyes while shrugging into his shirt.

"Oi, woman, how many times you gonna say sorry? I'm saying this only once, we're nakama. We were even before we joined Fairy Tail. I may not have liked you, but I respected your power. Now, I think you're alright too." Juvia smiled shyly as Gajeel bent to pick up his bag,

"Tch. Gotta get on that stupid train. Stupid train sickness." He started out the door and down the stairs, hearing Juvia scramble out of bed and come down the stairs behind him.

"You're leaving now?" She asked him, leaning on the wall, watching as he fixed his shoes.

"Ah, yeah. It's an hour into Magnolia, remember?" Juvia looked a little downcast as she replied,

"Oh that's right."

"Anyway, here." She looked up to see Gajeel holding out a small but thick packet towards.

"Ara? What's this?" She asked, even as she opened it to find something close to 30,000 jewels inside it. She looked up at him wide eyed.

"Gajeel-kun?!"

"The old man said it was to 'start our new lives' " Gajeel said, making air quotations. She chuckled.

"Master is too kind. Gajeel-kun, could you thank Master if you see him? It would make Juvia happy."

"Ah. yeah. Sure whatever. Listen," Gajeel seemed to get serious here. " Don't do anything stupid. No lifting anything heavier than a pound of meat. Got it? Don't go overboard with the cleaning either. If you go out, be careful and watch where you're going dammit. If any one messes with you, kick their asses. Understand?"

"Hai Gajeel-kun." She nodded furiously. "See you tonight Gajeel-kun!" She waved as he walked away, raising a fist in the air as acknowledgement of her farewell call.

She watched his receding figure through the forest from the door until she couldn't see him anymore and then went inside. Juvia surveyed the dusty interior of the house and then looked down at the packet of money in her hands. All of this, her situation, forcing Gajeel to live like this. It was all that stupid rapists fault. She looked down her shirt to see the brand. She knew she could've gotten Wendy to fix it. She knew that, but the other part of her, the part that held her pride and dignity dear, refused to allow someone else to see the branding of such scum on her. It was bad enough that Master and Gajeel had to see it. She shook her head. No, no. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts. She had a lot of work to do. Gajeel had gone to work hard for the sake of both of them... she wasn't going to sit here and do nothing! She looked at the money again.

"Yosh! Juvia will make a feast for Gajeel-kun to come home too!"

Nodding in satisfaction of her resolve, Juvia set off to get ready for the day. She dressed in her usual garb, albeit buttoned higher than she would normally have worn it, she stepped carefully out of the house, locking the door behind her and made her way through the forest towards the market place.

.. .. ..

Gajeel staggered off the train in Magnolia, cursing his genes as he made his way to the guild. He took a couple deep breaths to calm the roiling of his stomach. There was no way he was going to let anyone see such a pathetic expression. He took one last deep breath and entered the guild. He had only taken two steps in when he found himself being lifted off the ground by his shirt collar and shaken, by a furious Titania.

"YOU! Where is she?!" Gajeel struggled against her hold, seeing the entire guild watching fearfully. He figured the woman had been in a crazy mood all morning.

"Oi, what are you going on about you crazy woman?!" Her eyes flashed dangerously as she shook Gajeel to shut him up.

"Don't screw with me! Her room in the dorms is stripped bare! Every thing is gone! I saw he leave with you yesterday. So I'll ask you one more time. Where. Is. She?" Her eyes didn't allow for any excuses Gajeel could tell that much. He wondered what kind of lie he was going to have to tell them to get himself out of this one.

_Dammnit Juvia, you're going to pay for this!_


	5. Lesson One

**Chapter 5:** **Lesson One**

"I asked you a question Gajeel. _Don't_ make me repeat myself. _"_ Erza's voice had gone dangerously quiet, Gajeel understood that she was upset that something had happened with her nakama that she wasn't aware of, but he wasn't angry with just Gray. He was furious with all of them because of Juvia's circumstances. He jerked himself out her grasp.

"She's safe. That's all that you need to know." He dusted himself off and walked to the mission board, aware that the others were watching him.

"No it isn't! Why did she leave in the first place?!" Erza thundered behind him. He rolled his eyes; they were such a dramatic bunch. Just `cause she had left, they were causing such a fuss. Gajeel felt a hand come down on his shoulder and when he turned to look at its owner, a fist hit him square in the face, sending him crashing into the board. He clutched his mouth and looked up to see Gray straightening up, minus his shirt as usual.

"That was payback." He grabbed Gajeel by his shirt and hoisted him up, arm drawn back to punch him again. "You feel like telling us why she left now?" Gajeel snorted.

"Why don't you tell them yourself stripper? You should know better than anyone." Gray let go of his shirt in surprise. He heard the guild members behind start muttering to each other, wondering what Gajeel was talking about. He saw Lucy shift uncomfortably behind Gray where she was standing with Levy who looked at him in confusion. He shook his head and snatched a job and slammed onto the bar in front of Mira, who took it silently and approved it for him, sliding it back across the table. Gajeel turned to Gray from his place at the bar.

"Whaddya remember about Salamander's party last month, Ice Moron?" Gray bristled at the name but thought back to the event in question. His eyes scrunched up as he tried to remember.

"Remember? Not much, I was wasted, remember? So were you." Gajeel snorted and happened to glance up to the second floor, locking eyes with Makarov. At his slight nod, Gajeel realized he had the master's permission to reveal Juvia's circumstances. Juvia would probably kill him later, but he would deal with that when the time came.

"Wasted huh? I'm not such a light weight that I'd screw a girl thinking it was someone else!" Gray went still as Gajeel's roared statement cut through the guild like a knife. Almost immediately the guild went silent. Gray straightened and stood directly in front of Gajeel.

"Oi, what crap are you talking about? I never -"

"Shut up. That night, you were so drunk that you grabbed Juvia and screwed her, thinking it was Bo-" He saw the master shake his head, and changed the statement. " thinking it was someone else you asshole!" He shoved Gray back, away from him as he picked up the mission flyer and his bag. Erza tried to intervene at this point.

"Gray, is he telling the truth?" Gray backed away, clutching his head, trying to remember that night. His eyes suddenly widened as the memory came to him, swimming out in front of all the other jumbled memories from the other night.

"No." He whispered. Gajeel sighed, "Yeah, it's true. and because of you, Juvia, is in a situation no woman should be!" Lucy put a hand on his shoulder.

"Gajeel, he made a mistake. Let him apologize to Juvia for it. She doesn't have to leave because of this." Gajeel shook her off and Lucy backed away.

"Come off it! You guys all sound like you care, but you can't even imagine how she feels!" The guild was silent as Gajeel became enraged, throwing tables now. " You all thought because Juvia was so carefree, that she just had a crush on Gray. She loved him! And you made fun of her! She tried her hardest to get his attention, _your_ attention, bastard!" He pointed to Gray, expression furious. "But you brushed her off every time. Didn't even give her a response. Do you know how happy she must've been when you ….when you...and then you go and call out the name of another woman?!" Gray looked ashamed as the memory came back to him in its entirety. Gajeel was practically shaking with anger now.

"But if it was just that, I wouldn't want to kill you right now. It's what happened after that pisses me off. You hurt her so badly that she ran back to the dorms at 4:00 in the morning, without anyone! And because she was an idiot, she let herself get caught off guard, ended up being raped! All because of your stupid drunkenness!" Gajeel pointed an accusing finger at the ice mage as the guild members exploded into exlamations of rage.

"The bastard raped and branded her! And because of the two of you, she's _pregnant!_ " Gray froze. Lucy dropped her pen, and Natsu sighed. He had known, since the day Juvia had walked into the guild to talk to Gajeel. He hadn't known how to bring it up with Gajeel and now that the whole story had come out, the whole guild was wracked with guilt. Levy's eyes were wide as saucers and Mira had fainted into her sisters arms. No one seemed to know how to deal with the statement. Gajeel scoffed.

"You guys, you are her nakama and Juvia would never want you to feel like what happened to her was your fault, but, " he turned to Gray. "You have some serious apologizing to do. You took a naïve, simple girl's dreams and crushed them flat. Take responsibility for it." With that, Gajeel turned heel and left the guild, with Pantherlily chasing after him.

… … …

Juvia wandered the fruit market in center of Galdrom, she stood in front of a fruit vendor and had become aware of a group of middle aged observing her and giggling behind her at a distance. She picked up a bag of apples and handed it to the vendor.

"10 jewels, please." Juvia rummaged through her bag for the money and looked up to see one of the women paying it for her.

"Oh no. Please, you don't have to do that! Juvia would feel most unfortable!" The woman turned and smiled mischievously at her.

"No no Juvia darling, don't think anything of it. You're new here aren't you?" The other women gathered around her and Juvia nodded meekly, wondering what kind of mess she had gotten herself into.

"I'm Matilda," the woman who had payed for the apples said, telling her she was the wife of the woodcarver over in the next plaza. The other women introduced themselves to her as they took her to a nearby café and sat down with her. Elmira introduced herself as a modest wife of the town metal smith; Eliza was the wife of the only livestock owner in the city while Sachiko was the housekeeper of the town mayor.

"Ne, ne." Elmira leaned towards her over the table as Juvia sipped her tea, furtively glancing at her new company. "That delicious looking bad boy you were with yesterday is your boyfriend isn't he?" Juvia choked on her tea, coughing harshly and staring incredulously at her.

"Ah?"

"No, no Elmira, it's written on her face. Someone that cute wouldn't be her boyfriend." Juvia smiled when Matilda intervened, at least they understood her she thought . "He must be her husband."

"Huh?!" Juvia looked at her, shock all over her expression. The women giggled at her expression and leaned forward conspiratorily.

"Ano ne, you're pregnant aren't you?" Juvia jolted away from them.

"Hah?! How did you know?!" Juvia was aghast as she looked at the amused faces of her company. Sachiko winked at her, her graying hair gleaming in the sunlight as she tapped her cheek with her index finger.

"A mother knows." Juvia blushed as tried to correct them.

"That's - that's surprising, but Gajeel-kun isn't Juvia's - "

"Ah! So his name is Gajeel!" The women chattered amongst themselves excitedly as Juvia stared at them, at a loss of what to do. She hadn't known bringing Gajeel with her would cause this kind of misunderstanding. She sighed. The women turned their attention back to her.

"Ne, ne. Come shopping with us! We'll take you to the best places in town and we'll get to know each other!"

"Yes, that's a wonderful idea!" They grabbed Juvia and sped into the central plaza of Galdrom.

.. .. ..

Hiroyuki the metal smith looked up from his work and his conversation with his friends to see his wife fly by with her friends and a blue haired young woman. Samuel laughed, as he watched them go by, seeing his wife, Eliza in the midst of it.

"Looks like your wife and Sachiko found a new friend." Hiroyuki shook his head.

"That poor woman. She'll never know what hit her."

.. .. ..

Juvia waved sweetly as she saw her new friends off from her front door. They had walked her home, scolding her about holding heavy things at such an early stage of pregancy. They had given her advice on how to best maximize her time and how to deal with the things that were to come.

"Good bye! Thank you for today!" She bowed as they turned to wave and as soon as they were out of sight she went inside the house and collapsed on the couch, a plume of dust rising, making her cough. _Juvia thinks older women are scary!_ She looked at the clock in the living room and realized that she had six hours left until Gajeel returned home. She got up and surveyed the room.

"Yosh! First cleaning, then Juvia will cook Gajeel dinner!" Steeling her resolve, Juvia filled a bucket with water and used her water powers to expertly clean the floors and windows of dust and grime. She then got out a mop after some searching in the storage closet and wiped down the floors, wiping down the windows with a clean rag. She then took a cloth and dusted all the furniture, along with polishing the wooden and iron fixtures in the room. Finishing downstairs, Juvia repeated the process in all three rooms up stairs, taking extra care in the bathrooms. She set the rooms according to how she usually lived, and unpacked her clothes. She saw Gajeel's half opened suitcase and put his clothes into the closet next to hers. Her hands stilled as she hung his fifth vest into the closet, running her hands lightly down the length of it.

Juvia realized, that here, in this city, it was only her and Gajeel. The way things were going, her child would likely grow up to believe that Gajeel was his father. She sighed. The way things were, it looked like things were only going to get more complicated. She didn't want to lead her child on, but... Gajeel being a father somehow made her feel ...happy. She shook her head. What was she thinking? This was _Gajeel_ she was talking about. He'd sooner fight a dragon than change a baby's diaper. She thought of Gajeel feeding a baby milk and difted into a fit of laughter. She shrugged, at this point, there was no telling how things were going to turn out. She had no choice but to just go along with it for now. She clapped her hands in satisfaction as she looked around her sparkling bedroom and then went down stairs, tying her hair as she went.

"Time to cook!"

.. .. ..

Gajeel looked at the flyer in his hands and then at the building in front of him. Then back down to the flyer.

 _What the fuck is this?_ He thought. He was sure he had picked up the mission form for putting a bunch of bandits in jail...how had he ended up in front of a Magnolia highschool with a flyer to teach the basics of magic to a bunch of highschool delinquents. He groaned, he had been so angry that he must've snatched the wrong flyer. He turned to go back to the guild when a high voice called out to him.

"Ohayooooo! You must be Gajeel-kun!" A tall but ancient and severe looking woman raced in front of him, grabbing his vest and dragging him inside the building. "Oh you look just as Mira-san described you!"

 _Mira? Damn, I can't get out of the job now._ He dusted himself off as the woman finally let go of him.

"My name is Towa Mariko," She bowed and then looked at him, pushing her glasses firmly onto her face from one side. She looked him up and down, making him largely uncomfortable. She handed him a thick sheaf of paper and shoved him down the hallway of the school all the while talking a mile a minute.

"You will be in charge of the senior class of the school, theyre a right bunch of sorry looking souls. No direction, motivation or anything. All of them look like they've given up on life. Also, they're pretty violent. Don't forget to duck whenever they throw something. Well. That said, good luck." She patted him on the back and then sped away, leaving Gajeel standing in front of a heavily vandalised classroom door. Gajeel sighed, and opened the door to the classroom, promptly hitting the floor to avoid being smacked in the face from a large dictionary.

"Whooo! Shin! Nice shot!" He heard an adolescent male voice yell. He winced. He hated his sharp sense of hearing at times like this. He got up and dragged himself to the class podium surveying the kids. All of them had strange hairstyles and many sported some kind of weapon. He yawned. This was going to be such a crappy job.

"Oi." He said, seeing that no one had taken notice of his entrance. He narrowed his eyes. If he was here, he was damn well not going to be ignored. He raised one gloved hand and slammed it on the podium and yelled.

"OI, BRATS! SHADDUP!" The class went silent, finally taking note of the gigantic, heavily pierced man at the front of the class. He grinned at their stares, fangs showing.

"Now that's more like it." He opened the book the principal had given him.

_Lesson 1: Spirit._


	6. A Name

**Chapter 6: A Name**

When Gajeel approached the cottage that evening, a little past the sun setting, he was surprised to smell the aroma of fresh cooked food. It was further surprising that he was looking forward to whatever it was that Juvia had prepared for him. Although he hoped that Juvia cooked far better than some of the other Fairy Tail woman. He remembered the last time Elfman had eaten Evergreen's cooking. He hadn't come out of the infirmary for a week and even then he'd looked half dead.

Gajeel shuddered and opened the front door.

"Gajeel-kun! You're home!" Just as he entered, Juvia came barreling out of the kitchen, causing Gajeel to freeze the moment he set eyes on her. In front of him, stood Juvia, clad in the frilliest apron he'd ever seen in his life. and somehow, he felt like he liked seeing her this way. He shook the thought out of his mind as he noticed the sparkle in her eyes, telling him that coming here was the right thing to do. It was like Juvia had been reborn - no pun intended - by coming to Galdrom. Here, she was anonymous, she had covered her guild mark, he noticed, by tying a blue armband around it.

"Gajeel-kun?" Gajeel realized he hadn't said a word since entering the house.

"Sorry. Hard day. Still a little out of it." Juvia looked him over, sensing a sort of tension and stress in him that she found unusual but wrote it off as the travel stress he was sure to have accumulated.

"Juvia knows what will make Gajeel-kun feel better!" Juvia began shoving Gajeel into the kitchen to the table where Gajeel could see a full home cooked meal of steak, mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. He could also make out the distinct smell of metal in the kitchen, metal that wasn't part of any of the fixture.

"What the - Juvia what is this?" Gajeel stared wide eyed - almost drooling at the sight, causing Juvia giggle.

"It's dinner. Also. It's Juvia's way of thanking Gajeel for doing this with her. Juvia knows she could not have made it on her own. Gajeel sat down and wasted no time in eating, cramming anything within reach into his mouth. He hadn't eaten too much today aside from spare metal chunks he kept as snacks with him. Half way through he looked up and realized that Juvia wasn't eating with him.

"Juvia, why aren't you eating?" Gajeel asked, stopping his meal for a moment as Juvia smiled at him, a little pain visible in her expression.

"Juvia feels..a little unwell...she will eat later, when the feeling goes away." Gajeel raised an eyebrow.

"You feeling nauseous Rain woman?" Juvia grinned at the nickname. For some reason, she didn't mind the nickname from Gajeel's lips.

"Yes. It is normal I am told." Gajeel shrugged and went back to eating, contemplating how to tell her about his encounter with Gray and the guild.

"Juv-"

"Oh and Gajeel-kun, Juvia got something for you." Gajeel suddenly found himself looking at a satchel of some of the highest grade metal he'd ever set eyes on.

"Juivia... how did you - how much did this cost you?" Gajeel said, surprised with what he was seeing, and providing ample entertainment for the water mage.

"Nothing. Juvia met some friendly aunties in the market today. One of them - a woman named Elmira - is the wife of a metal smith. They said they were giving it to me as a housewarming gift since juvia told them Gajeel-kun likes metal."

Now Gajeel felt guilty. He had to come clean what had happened between him and Gray today. He pushed the metal away from him as he turned to Juvia.

"Juvia listen..I have to tell you something.

"Yes?" She looked at him expectantly. Gajeel braced himself. He knew this was not going to be pretty.

"I ran into Gray and Erza today at the guild. " He saw Juvia's expression change, and saw her push herself away from the table.

"Gajeel-kun, Juvia does not wish to talk about Gray -sa - about Gray." Gajeel put his hand on hers, telling her this wasn't a negotiable topic of discussion.

"I know. But I have to tell you. Gray and Erza confronted me about you leaving the Fairy Hills dorm, cause you took everything with you. Apparently they searched the entire town looking for you. It looks like they saw me and you leave Magnolia yesterday. They pretty much attacked me and told me to tell them where you were." He looked Juvia in the eye, praying she wouldn't react the way he thought she would.

"I … I told them what happened. Gray knows what he's done." There was a terrifying moment of silence, Gajeel held his breath as he watched Juvia's expression from guarded to furious. She leapt from her seat, sending it tumbling over on its side.

"You told them?!" Juvia's voice became shrill, causing Gajeel to wince. "You _told_ them?! After Juvia told you she didn't want them to know! Juvia told you she didn't want their pity! _Poor_ Juvia, they will say. _So sad_ they will say. They will know Juvia's dishonor! Why would you tell them?!"

"Because they needed to know! Gray needed to know what he'd done Juvia! I couldn't let him walk around so carefree when you were dealing with his stupid decision! I won't let him! I told you I would get revenge!"

"You should have let him go on, not knowing what had happened. He would have believed it was just a dream!"

"This is a dream to you?!" Gajeel roared at her, causing Juvia to flinch at the loudness of his voice. "Is it?! This," Gajeel said, pointing to her stomach and to their surroundings. "is it a dream?! This is reality Juvia! You can't run from it. None of them understood why you left, none of them deserve to be abandoned like they meant nothing, and you _know_ that!"

Juvia hugged herself, not meeting his eyes.

"Juvia knows." She mumbled, "Juvia knows it was wrong, but they can't help Juvia. Juvia would break if they saw her in her state of - of - of _dishonor!_ "

Gajeel growled in frustration. She didn't understand him. He was glad they lived in the forest, if they had been living in the city limits, half the town would have been pounding on their door.

"What dishonor? Just because you got pregnant?! That's not dishonor Juvia. It was an accident. It was an attack. No matter who's the father, none of this is your fault. You have nothing to be ashamed you crazy woman!" Gajeel said frustrated with the inadequacy of his words. He couldn't get out what he truly wanted to say to her. He could smell the salt in the air, telling him Juvia was crying, even if he couldn't see her face. He gently touched her shoulder.

"Juvia, this isn't your fault. It's Gray's, it's that man's but it has nothing to do with you. You just in the wrong place, at the wrong time. You were caught off guard, because of Gray and couldn't defend yourself like you would have usually. Do you understand? It isn't your fault."

He waited a moment and was satisfied when he saw Juvia nod at him, head still down. Gajeel gathered her to him, despite his reluctance to bodily contact other than fighting.

"Besides, now, the entire Guild will probably tear Magnolia apart trying to find the rapist. At the very least, he won't be able to hurt anyone again." He saw Juvia brighten slightly at that. Suddenly, she pushed him away, sending him stumbling backwards slightly.

"Juvia, what the f-" He noticed her hand was over her mouth and her face had turned slightly green. Then, she was gone, racing up the stairs, and into the bathroom, Gajeel only two steps behind her. She immediately went to the toilet and began to vomit. Gajeel stood awkwardly for a moment, before realizing that she was trying to throw up and hold her hair at the same time. He knew there wasn't much he could do for her, so he took her hair from her, allowing her to empty her stomach undeterred.

When it finally stopped, Juvia sank back against his legs, exhausted, tear stains on her cheeks.

"Juvia is tired, Gajeel-kun. She doesn't know if she can do this. That's supposed to happen almost every morning now." Gajeel stayed silent, not knowing what to say. He helped her to her feet at first, helping keep her steady as she rinsed her mouth. Once she was done, Gajeel scooped her into his arms, despite her protests.

"Gajeel-kun! Juvia can walk!"

"Shaddup," Gajeel's face was obscured by the darkness of the room, so that Juvia couldn't make out his expression. "Just let me do this at least." He gently laid her in bed, removing her apron for her, and taking the ties out of her hair, shaking it out for her.

His hands lingered a little, running his fingers through the silky length of it. Even in the dark, with only the moon for light, Juvia's hair shone like Tanzanite, glimmering softly. He jolted out his trance as Juvia nestled her head against his hand.

"Juvia is sorry for yelling at Gajeel. She knows you were just helping her."

Gajeel grunted noncommittally, embarrassed now thinking back to everything he'd said.

"Tch. Whatever."

They stayed silent for a while, after Gajeel had gotten into bed next to her at Juvia's insistence, stripping his shirt off before getting in.

"Gajeel-kun?"

"Ah?"

"Did you find a mission?"

"Oh. Yeah. By accident."

Juvia's expression became confused.

"By accident? How can you choose one by mistake?"

"I was so pissed at Gray and Titania that I grabbed the wrong one and it wasn't until I got to the address that I realized that I'd picked the school teacher job instead of a bandit catcher one." He looked so disgruntled that Juvia giggled.

Gajeel, swallowed hard at that. He was starting to realize that something very strange was happening inside him. Juvia was affecting him in a way he wasn't familiar with. He decided to suppress it. If he didn't think about it, it wouldn't affect him. It would go away eventually. He would stop thinking about how her eyes were sparkly, about how she had the most delicate arms, or how she felt so dainty, so small, so –

 _Stop it._ Gajeel clamped down on whatever it was that was trying to make itself known to him. Nope. This was Juvia. She was Nakama. Nothing more.

 _ **Do nakama usually drop their entire lives to help a friend?**_ A snide voice inside him snickered.

_Shut up. I'm just doing it because she needs me._

_**So if it was someone other than you that she asked, you would be okay with it?** _

…

_**That's what I thought. If you're a man, you won't run away from what you feel. You'd try to understand it.** _

_Who are you, Elfman?_

_**That's mean.** _

Gajeel tried to ignore his thoughts as Juvia finally fell asleep, her breathing deep and even next to him. She was so close that he could smell the floral soaps she'd washed herself with. He froze suddenly as Juvia turned in her sleep and nestled herself onto his chest. He groaned, pinching the bridge of his pierced nose.

 _What the hell did I do to deserve this?_ He thought, irritated as Juvia turned so that her nose and lips pressed to his side. Every breath he took brought him closer to her. He tried to roll out of her grasp but she clung desperately to him. He didn't even know why this kind of closeness bothered him. It wasn't like he had never had a woman before. What about this was so different?

 _Holy Mavis_.

What had he done to warrant this kind of torture?

… …. ….

Gray stood in the center of a demolished Fairy Tail, breathing heavily. It was silent, following what had to have been, in Carla's perception, the most violent brawl the guild had ever seen. Almost immediately after Gajeel had left Fairy Tail, Gray had lost it, yelling and screaming as he threw everything and anything that came within reach. Tables, chairs, stools, pillars, anything. Natsu, Elfman, and Macao had tried to stop him, but had a hard enough time keeping him from nearly destroying the building.

In the middle of the fight, Cana had screamed at him to stop, successfully freezing Gray to the stop. He panted heavily as she made her way to him, Erza close behind her.

"Gray?" He didn't answer, but she could the tears streaming down his face. As she finally reached him, she reached out to him, but missed when he suddenly collapsed to the ground on all fours, pounding it with one fist. Each punch was accompanied with a curse.

"Damnit." He said through gritted teeth, pounding the floor. "Damnit!"

"Gray…" Cana trailed off as she crouched next to him, a hand to his shoulder, which he threw off, getting to his knees, throwing his head back to cover his face with his hands.

"Gray! Control yourself!" Erza commanded sternly, stepping back when Gray pinned her with the most haunted look she had ever seen on him.

"Calm down? Do you have any idea what I've done?" Erza stayed silent, she couldn't tell him it was okay after all.

"Nakama…Nakama are meant to protect each other from harm, not _become_ the harm." Gray said bitterly. "If – if Juvia's pregnant with _my_ child, I don't – I can't –" Erza hit Gray on the back of the head with the hilt of her sword.

"You can't what Gray?" She thundered at him, glaring. "You can't help her?! Why? It's too _overwhelming_ for _you_? Grow up! Take responsibility dammit! If Juvia is in trouble, then this isn't the time to think! This is the time to help her! In any way we can! Even if she won't see us, we can still help her! She must be terrified to know that her attacker is still out there! Imagine how traumatic it must have been! To be held down by someone you don't even know, and be taken by him? Imagine how violated she must have felt?!" The entire roared in rage at Erza's speech, feeling the anger that had laid dormant while they'd tried to corral Gray. Gray was filled with anger again, this time all channelled to finding Juvia's attacker.

"Juvia may have been a member of Phantom Lord, but anyone who knows her, would know that she was a naïve girl!" Erza continued. "She believed in true love! She believed in a prince charming! She believed in romance! And that man snatched it from her! He took her pain, and made it unbearable! We will find him," Erza yelled, "and we _will_ make him pay!" She thrust her sword up in the air, answered by everyone, roaring their agreement.

They became aware of a clapping as their yells quietened, and turned to see the Master descending the stairs, clapping his hands, a proud look on his face.

"I cannot tell you how proud I am of you my children." He said, taking his usual position on the bar. "But what you need now, is information." He said, thinking deeply, forehead scrunching up in concentration.

"Gajeel said that the guy grabbed Juvia near the abandoned apartment complex west of the Fairy Hills dorm." Erza started in shock.

"What in Mavis was she doing there?!"

"I don't know, but its likely she was running from…what had happened here." Gray rubbed a hand over his face. _This was all my fault,_ he thought miserably.

"Apparently, during…the attack, he branded a symbol of a shield on Juvia's collar. Most likely a gang or guild insignia." Gray's head snapped up at that.

"He what?! He burned her?!" Makarov nodded, remembering, the red, raw skin surrounding the burn.

"But, but, Juvia didn't show it to me!" Wendy cried in horror from the back of the guild. The rest turned to look at her, as she realized she had revealed herself, smacking a hand over her mouth. She fidgeted uncomfortably on her feet, seeing Gray stomp his way over to her. He grabbed her roughly on the shoulders.

"You knew?!" She flinched at his voice, hearing Carla protest at Gray's behaviour.

"Gray stop it! This isn't her fault!" Natsu finally yelled at him, shoving him away from Wendy.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Gray demanded, having to be restrained by Lucy and Levy.

"She made me swear not to tell anyone!" Wendy defended herself, drawing herself up to her full petite height. "But I didn't see the burn! I could see the bandage on her neck, but when I asked her, she said it was nothing, she had the room full of flowers, and it messed with my nose! I couldn't smell anything! Why didn't she tell me?" Wendy looked to them for an answer. "I could have healed it. I could have made it go away."

"But she didn't want you of all people to see it." Wendy turned her head to see Lucy step forward, away from a calmer Gray. "She didn't want you to see his sign on her, like she was his property, like she belonged to him. I can understand that." Lucy grimaced, remembering her father's attempt to get her back to his estate and marry her off.

"In any case," Makarov coughed, getting the attention of the room. "We have a mission at hand. Juvia couldn't tell me what he looked like; just that he was large, and smelled of sweat and alcohol."

"That's half the men of Magnolia!" Levy said, frustrated. "That doesn't narrow it down to anything!" She paced back and forth.

"No," the Master said pensively. "But, she told me that he had anti-magic lacrima on him. There's only two stores in the city that have those. Illegally of course. Let's start there. Team Natsu, you go to Mage Mania on South Street. And Cana, Mira, and Elfman go the second one on Strawberry Street, a store called Antiquities. Warren, keep a telepathic link between everyone."

The two teams nodded and split, heading for their destinations, after Warren initiated the telepathic link.

Makarov watched, feeling that things would only get more complicated from her. He shook his head and then ordered the rest of the guild to get to work repairing the guild building.

… … …

"This is it." Lucy said, coming to a stop in front of a large store, looking like an average mage supply store. Natsu stepped up, cracking his knuckles next to Gray who rolled his shoulders.

"Then let's do this." And Natsu kicked the front door open, blowing it clear off its hinges. Erza peered in to see the stupefied clerk inside the store staring back at her. She walked in, the rest of Team Natsu behind her, stepping over the useless, splintered door. Natsu sniffed the air around him as Erza approached the teller.

"Are you the owner of this place?" The teller looked to be a teenager, barely 16, and terrified.

"N-no." He stammered. "I'm Daniel. I w-work here part-time. It's only been a week since I started working h-here." He stared wide-eyed at Erza who towered over him. Natsu came over, looking at the kid.

"Erza, I smell alcohol and sweat, it's not even two hours old."

Erza slammed her armored hand on the table.

"Get the owner. Now." The frightened teen positively ran to the back of the store, returning with a tall, serious man, in complete juxtaposition to the jolly store.

"Are you the owner?" Erza asked, aware of Gray glowering at him behind her.

"Yes. May I help you?" He said smoothly.

"You sell anti-magic lacrima?" He looked offended.

"I am surprised at you madam. You ought to know those are illegal." Gray narrowed his eyes.

"Quit kissing ass, you creep. Do you sell them or not?"

"I wouldn't answer such an undignified question sir." Before anyone could stop him, Gray lunged forward and grabbed his collar, making an ice dagger at the same time, deadly sharp, and held to his neck.

"Do. You. Sell. Anti-Magic Lacrima?" Gray's voice was deadly calm, pressing the dagger close to this throat.

"Oh _those._ " The man said nervously. "Why didn't you say so? Of course! Would you like one?" He pressed a button on the counter to reveal a hidden shelf of anti-magic lacrima tools. From Hand cuffs to rope, to collars and other things. Lucy leaned forward.

"Did you sell these to anyone today? He would've been big, and had something with a symbol of shield on it, probably either smelled of alcohol or was drunk." The owner gulped. Natsu lit a fist on fire, holding it close to his face.

"Did you?"

"Yes! Yes! A large man! Constantly drunk. He's from, from….oh!" He snapped his fingers. "He's from the Shielded Evil Gang! Amon! Does that help?" He looked nervously at them. Gray let his sword disintegrate and let go of the man's collar, only to reach back punch him in the face. The part-timer squeaked in fright as the owner's body hit the floor, retreating as far away from it as he could.

"Don't let him go anywhere." Erza ordered him, getting a furious nod in return. They left the store, Erza contacting Warren as they did.

_Warren, let everyone know, it's a gang called Shielded Evil, tell them to meet me at the west border of town. We have a name._


	7. Paternity

**Chapter 7: Paternity**

"Wait! Erza!" Lucy struggled to keep up with her teammates as they left the store and barreled towards what Lucy could only assume was the hideout of the rogue mages they were after.

"What is it?" Erza responded, not slowing in the least.

"How do you know where to go?"

"I'm familiar with this particular group of mages, though I didn't know they'd decided to use a shield as their guild insignia. But it really wasn't that hard. The council has been having a hard time with this group. Essentially, they're just a bunch of hormonally charged scum who happen to know where to get the good illegal stuff in Magnolia. Their magic is pretty basic and not powerful at all. The problem is, that they're hit men first and mages second. So whatever they lack in magical competency, they more than make up for in street savy-ness."

Gray frowned at this, keeping up easily, unlike Lucy who was wheezing at this point.

"Okay. So if they're this pathetic, what's keeping the council from nailing them?"

"Evidence. There's no physical evidence of the attack except for the signs of rape on the victims' bodies. There's nothing physically tying them to the crimes. The fact that they branded Juvia was a new signature, and it'll be his biggest mistake. In addition, even though there were a lot of women attacked, almost all of them mages, no one ever saw their attackers face clearly."

"Are you serious? This creep has been raping women left, right and center and no one's been able to catch him?" Lucy looked disgusted at the thought. Erza growled in frustration as they turned a corner, flying past pedestrians.

"Believe me, we tried everything we could to get him, but none of the women were willing to say anything once we showed them a line up to see if they could tell which one of them had been the attacker. Even women that had promised to cooperate suddenly told us they just wanted to forget everything and just walk away from it. Our hands were tied and there was nothing we could do about it."

As they finally entered the west end of the city, the population of citizens on the street greatly diminished, and as they neared the very edge of the city, Team Natsu was joined by the rest of Fairy Tail having received Warren's intel' on Team Natsu's position. At Erza indication, they realized they were aiming for a shabby warehouse on the very border of Magnolia city that bore a crudely etched shield on its doors. The warehouse was completely isolated by the trees and underbrush of the surrounding forest.

Just before reaching the entrance, Erza held her arm out, signalling the rest of them to halt. She stayed silent for a moment, listening intently.

"Listen, do you hear anything?"

"No?" Lucy and Gray answered, confused by the question.

"Exactly," Mira-Jane said as she emerged from the crowd of guild members, looking grim.

"We don't hear anything. Which means the warehouse is empty." Gray's eyes widened in shock.

"What?!" He leapt forward and wrenched the doors open, coughing as a foul order overtook their senses, making their eyes water. Natsu and Wendy were completely down on account of their extremely sensitive noses. Gray backed away, using his arm to cover his nose and waved the other in front of his face, trying to wave the smell away.

"Yeow! They may not be here now, but they definitely _were_ here. Holy Mavis. The smell of sweat is way too strong." Natsu said, pinching his nose, eyes watering. Lucy patted his back soothingly, holding her own nose, and grimacing.

A soft breeze blew in just then, in great juxtaposition to their dreary surroundings. It was almost nightfall by now, the sun casting an orangey glow on their otherwise black surroundings. A sound of paper rustling caught Happy's attention from his position on Natsu's shoulder. He flew off into the warehouse, holding his paws over his feline nose and found the source of the sound; a paper that was tacked to the wall via a rusted nail. As he inspected it, Happy went pale, realizing the nature of the contents of the paper. He flew back to Natsu and Lucy as Elfman walked in, surveying the empty space.

"Dammit!" He slammed a fist against the concrete walls. "They escaped!"

"Uh guys?" The group turned to Lucy who was reading the paper that Happy had handed her. "I think I found the 'evidence' the council is looking for." She handed the paper off to Erza who read it with Mira reading over her shoulder.

"This," Erza said after skimming the paper. "This is a list of every woman ever attacked in those cases, with a bunch of other that didn't come forward. It lists everything! Their age, occupation, residence, date of the attack, locations of where they took place, everything!" She looked at Mira in shock. Gray clenched his fists, becoming enraged at the futility of their raid.

"Do you understand the meaning of this?" The center of attention was suddenly Carla, who flew next Wendy, looking pensive, arms crossed over her chest. "It means Juvia-san's attack wasn't by chance. It wasn't a crime of chance. It was _planned._ They were **stalking** her!" With this revelation, the guild dissolved into horrified murmurings. The idea that Juvia had been under surveillance and no one had noticed was terrifying. It was now completely dark as Fairy Tail processed this new information.

"You know," Natsu said, crouching on the ground, studying the footprints of the rogue mages and sniffing the air again experimentally. "They haven't been gone long. Maybe 20 minutes maximum. If it's like this, Wendy and I can probably find them using my nose, their trail should still be in the area – " He cut off as a rumble from the sky interrupted him. In a moment, it was as if someone had opened a tap. They sudden downpour was startling, drenching everyone to the bone instantly.

"Or not." Natsu said dejectedly and slumped to the ground, Wendy with him. "Well there goes our last lead. I wonder how they got out of here so fast? This place looks like their only home base. Why did they suddenly leave?"

"That means," Lisanna said worriedly, emerging from behind Elfman, "that means someone tipped them off. They knew we were coming."

"But who?" Gray said, thinking aloud as he ran over a list of informants.

"The shopkeeper." Erza growled. Suddenly, she turned and took off running back in the direction they had come from. The rest of the guild followed, half splitting up halfway through to go back to the guild to report to the master of their findings. The rest ran to the store, regardless of the rain.

By the time they reached the street the store was located on, Erza knew it was a lost cause. The store lights were out and the door still lay kicked in. Upon peering in the dark store, the shopkeeper was nowhere in sight and the young cashier was out cold behind the counter, rendered unconscious from a blow to the head. She sighed and crouched next to the boy and slapped him in the face.

"Wake up."

"Erza!" MiraJane said disapprovingly from behind her.

"What? I find this is the quickest way to wake someone up from unconsciousness. Ask Gray or Natsu." She said blankly, slapping the boy in the face again. The two flinched, remembering being woken up similarly before.

"Wake up." After the last particularly hard slap, the boy began to stir and began blinking his eyes open. When they did open, Daniel almost wished he was unconscious again as he yelped and backed away from the woman peering at him. _Great, it's the psycho lady again. And look. She brought friends._ He winced, feeling his head gingerly to feel a large bump. He remembered suddenly, his boss clubbing him over the head with something wooden and then blacking out.

"Daniel." He looked to the red-haired lady.

"It's alright. I just want to ask you a few questions, is that okay?" He nodded hesitantly. He felt he would be made to talk whether he agreed or not, so he decided to cooperate to make it easier on himself. Erza then turned at meted out a few orders, disbanding the onlookers with specific duties. She brought them stools from the stores inventory and sat, motioning Daniel to do the same. She groaned inwardly realizing she had start from scratch again.

_Who knew when they were gonna catch this bastard. It was going to be long night._

_... ... ..._

Gajeel blinked his eyes open, wondering why he was awake. His internal clock told him, it was only about six 'o clock in the morning judging from the colors that stained his windows. Mumbling to himself, he turned in bed only to find that Juvia was no longer in bed with him. He sat up, still bleary from sleep, rubbing his eyes.

"Juvia?"

He then became aware of the sound of throwing up in the bathroom. He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, finding the woman hunched over the toilet, retching. Her hair was already tied up so Gajeel could do nothing but rub her back as vomited and hiccupped, crying. When she was finally done, Gajeel handed her tissue to wipe her mouth and helped her to her feet so she could wash her mouth. She smiled at him tiredly, looking at him in the mirror, while leaning over the sink exhaustedly.

"Thank you Gajeel-kun, for checking on Juvia. But Gajeel-kun should go back to sleep. You have to wake up in an hour."

Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"For the last time woman. Will you stop acting as if this problem is yours alone? If you're going to handle everything by yourself, what am I here for?" He scooped up the momentarily stunned mage and carried her to the bed, laying her down gently in bed. Then, without thinking, Gajeel leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. As soon as his lips made contact with her skin, he jerked back up.

"Gajeel-kun?"

Juvia looked questioningly at him, a hand on her forehead, eyes wide and watery and blushing a pretty pink.

"Uh – uh. That was nothing. It meant nothing. Just a kiss." Gajeel managed to choke out, turned away and climbed into bed, lying down with his back to hers, hand over his mouth, face a flaming red.

 _What the fuck did I just do? My body just acted on it's own._ He'd seen countless men kiss their wives or girlfriends like this to calm this and he'd done it absentmindedly. _What the hell does this mean?!_

_**It's just a kiss you wuss. Are you embarrassed? What are you? A preschooler?** _

_Who asked you? Quit butting in! And I'm not embarrassed. It just surprised me!_

_**Surprised you? You're the one that did the kissing.** _

_Stop saying that!_

When Juvia woke up next, she found herself alone, and looked to her right and saw a piece of paper on her bedside table.

_Didn't want to wake ya up so I wrote a note. Don't do anything tiring today. Don't pick anything heavier than Happy up and don't do anything stupid. Just relax today. Just so you know, I'm bringing Wendy over today to check up on things. I'll see you tonight._

_Gajeel_

Juvia smiled, lying in bed and staring at the note. Somehow it made her happy. She gingerly got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, stripping her night gown off as she went and stood in the shower, turning the water on. She sighed as the water cascaded down her body, soothing her aches away. She had found her daily rythm, she found the routine she liked and she was going to stick to it.

Once she had refreshed herself, Juvia busied herself in preparing a meal for her housemate and her guest, becoming something of a whirlwind in the kitchen.

Later that day, in the evening Juvia waited anxiously for Gajeel and Wendy to arrive. Juvia couldn't help but feel nervous. It had been a while since she had seen someone from the guild. What if she thought badly of Juvia for running away?

"We're home." The jingling of the front door cut her worries short and Juvia watched the petite girl walk in, looking all around her, studying the house.

"H-hello Wendy-chan." Juvia attempted a smile and was thoroughly relieved when Wendy rewarded Juvia with a wide smile, walking forward to hold the water mages hand.

"It's been hard on you Juvia-san, I'm glad to see you're doing well." Juvia felt tears prick at her eyes and collapsed heavily on the couch, holding Wendy's hand in both of hers, crying. She had been scared.

Gajeel leaned on the door frame at the entrance of the kitchen, he resisted smiling. He didn't smile, but he was happy that at least one of Juvia's fears were elevated. She was always afraid that the other's would hate her or think differently of her because of this.

"Juvia-san, if it's alright, may I begin the check up now?" At Juvia's teary nod, Wendy began her inspection, running her hands up and down Juvia's body, inspecting Juvia bloodflow, respiratory system and magic flow. As her hands finished their inspection, Wendy smiled at Juvia encouragingly.

"It seems everything is going fine. The little one is safe and healthy so far." Her expression changed here, to one of apprehension. Juvia looked inquisitively at her.

"What is it Wendy-chan?"

"Um. Ano. That is..." She looked hesitantly from Juvia to Gajeel. "Um. I can...I can tell you who the father is."

There was a moment of profound silence in the house. Juvia stared at the little girl. She hadn't thought she would have to deal with that until the child was born. Gajeel stood straight from his leaning position and went to sit beside Juvia on the couch. He took one of her shaking hands and held it in both of his.

She looked at him, terrified.

"G-Gajeel-kun..."

"It's okay. You can do this. You don't have to, but if you want to, you can." Juvia breathed deeply. Now that she knew she could know who's child it was, Juvia wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it until she knew. She didn't want to know and yet, she wanted to get it over with. A squeeze of her hands reminded her that she wasn't alone in this. She had Wendy and most importantly, she had Gajeel. She could do anything if he was by her side.

Juvia steeled herself, and nodded slowly to Wendy, giving her permission to continue.

"The father is...Gray-san."

Juvia's eyes widened, and her chest began to heave. She began to hold her head, clutching it as if confused.

"Wha – ahh."

She gasped, chest suddenly constricting and abruptly, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped sideways, into Gajeel's lap, body going limp.

"Juvia-san!"

"Juvia?! Juvia! Oi Juvia! Hey!"


	8. I'm Fine

**Chapter 8: I'm Fine**

Gajeel looked back and forth, expression panicked, from Wendy to the limp Juvia in his arms, now half sitting half lying, in his lap.

"What happened?! Why did she pass out?!" Wendy fanned Juvia's face with her train ticket for tomorrow.

"It's nothing to worry about physically, Gajeel-kun. She's reacting from a substantial emotional shock. It's completely normal." Wendy said nervously, watching Juvia's face for any signs of coming to.

"How do you know the baby is his?" Wendy sighed, she had hoped Juvia might have taken it better, but on the other hand, it was better that she could explain this to Gajeel-kun. Juvia would not have been able to understand the explanation in her panic.

"Basically. Every mage has a specific aura. Healers, experienced and well trained ones, learn to differentiate the auras from one another after a significant amount of practice. Each type of mage and each mage individually, has a specific signature to their power. For example, Gajeel-kun's aura is a moss green. It's darker than the green of normal iron mages because that is something that is derived directly from your own aura, separate from your magic signature. Likewise, the aura of the baby is an ice blue. This is lighter than Juvia-san's own dark blue aura, and darker than Gray-san's white aura. Which means it's possible... no it's almost certain, given the genetic line of mages that this child will be an ice make mage. What this suggests to me, is that as Gray was uh...first...to... well...it was just more likely, using the assumed timeline, to think that it would be more likely for the child to be Gray-san's baby. In addition, Juvia-san's magic is more compatible with Gray-san's because of the similar mediums of their powers. Though at this point, the child is not developed enough for me to tell you the gender, but that is about all I can tell you."

Gajeel wasn't sure what to feel. On the one hand, he was glad the baby didn't belong to rapist. On the other, the baby was now Gray's. So what did that mean? It wasn't as if Gray _wanted_ the baby. No, for him, it just happened. He didn't know what kind of involvement the ice mage would want in the kid's life, but regardless, Gajeel decided, _he_ would definitely be there for the child.

"Mnnngh." Juvia finally began to stir in Gajeel's arms and wake up. He helped her sit up slowly.

"What – uh what happened?" Wendy looked nervously at Gajeel.

"We... we, uh. We found out who the father was. Gray-san's." Juvia's face paled again, and she looked down, staring at her hands in her lap.

"Juvia was hoping it wouldn't be." Wendy sat back, a little shocked at the statement.

"What? You don't want the baby to be Gray –san's? Wouldn't that be better?" Juvia shook her head minutely.

"If the child had been the r-r- the attacker's then Juvia wouldn't have to face him. He would continue his life living freely, or in jail, and Juvia would be free to live her life separately. But now...now Juvia will have to face Gray. He will always know the child was his, and it will always remind Juvia of that night."

Gajeel looked at the girl next to him. He realized that he'd forgotten in the midst of everything that Juvia wasn't even twenty yet. She was dealing with something that most women didn't deal with until their late twenties. Seeing her now, so vulnerable Gajeel realized she was so small, so frail and soon she would become _everything_ to a child whose life would depend on her.

It was daunting even to think of.

Without thinking, Gajeel wrapped his arm around Juvia and pulled her close, resting his head atop hers.

"It doesn't matter who the father is. I'll be there with you every step of the way. I will _never_ leave you. We're nakama, and nakama stick together. No matter what. That's what Fairy Tail taught us, isn't it?"

Wendy felt like her face was on fire as she searched for any place to look but at the adolescents in front of her. Juvia's eyes widened at first at his statement, but soon, she found comfort in his words, and decided once and for all to put her trust in the only man whose respect she'd won by throwing him out a window.

"Thank you Gajeel-kun."

"hn. By the way. Wendy?"

"Yes!" She winced as she realized her voice had climbed an octave from embarrassment.

"Do you think you can do something about this?" Against Juvia's protests, Gajeel yanked Juvia's shirt down far enough for Wendy to see the brand mark that had nearly caused a riot in the guild. Wendy's mortification at the fact that Gajeel was intimate enough with Juvia to handle her clothes like that was short lived as she viewed the now dull brown indented scar in Juvia's skin.

"Well I can –"

"Wait." Juvia's hands softly covered Wendy's. "You all are trying to find Juvia's attacker, aren't you?" At Wendy's nod, Juvia withdrew her hands and re-covered the brand mark. "Then Juvia will leave this until he is caught. It is proof of his crime, and Juvia will do anything to put him away. Even if it means carrying his mark with Juvia a little longer."

It was silent following Juvia's declaration of resolve, save for the sounds of Wendy's silent sobs as she finally succumbed to her emotions.

[ **6 MONTHS LATER]**

The last six months had kept Juvia relatively busy. Gajeel seemed to like her cooking so Juvia had taken to having a meal cooked for him by the time he returned home from his unlikely job of a teacher. She took care to notice the dishes he particularly liked and perfected them to his preference over time. Gajeel from then on, brought Wendy to check up on her at the end of every month, sometimes with Carla and sometimes without. He would also keep her updated on the guild's efforts to catch the Shielded Evil Guild. Juvia and Gajeel had had a hearty laugh upon learning the name. She'd joked that a name like that would only bring to the guild. What was the point of evil if it was hidden? Regardless, though she laughed it off, the memories of the attack were still vivid but didn't affect her as much as it had it in the beginning. The fact that they were attempting to catch him caused her unease thought she was grateful that they were trying. It seemed that after they had disappeared, they appeared to be living in a camp site like situation. Astonishingly, they were having a hard time catching them, since they were masters of being invisible in a crowd. Juvia only wished it weren't this hard on her nakama to do this.

In another development, the dynamic between herself and Gajeel had changed in an interesting way. He had become gentler, though his method of speaking didn't change. His kindness only increased as her pregnancy progressed. He would help her up the stairs, sometimes carrying if he felt exceptionally generous. Gajeel had also begun to kiss her forehead every day before he left for Magnolia, though he complained that it was turning him soft and that he only did it because Juvia said it calmed her down. He would leave every morning around 7, after which Juvia would sleep in until 9 o clock. Then she would go down stairs and make herself breakfast and clean the house, which was spotless regardless but instead it would help keep her mind off Gajeel towards whom she found herself thinking about more than normal. Then around noon, her new found friends would come to visit, bearing treats and occasionally would take her shopping. All in all, Juvia was satisfied with her life, she was happy and well on her way to forgetting the twin trauma that had made her come here in the first place.

 _It's true._ Juvia thought to herself, sitting at her kitchen table listening to Elmira informed them of the progress of her daughters impending wedding to a young man who lived in the next town over. _Juvia does not feel as much pain when she thinks of Gray._

"Speaking of which, where are yours Juvia-chan?" The question brought Juvia out of her thoughts and back into her home.

"Sorry, Juvia was distracted. What was the question?" The women laughed good naturedly at Juvia's goof.

"I know you and Gajeel-san eloped from wherever it is that you're from but he still must have given you a ring, right?"

Juvia smiled uneasily. _Ah. Juvia had forgotten about this. Juvia still hasn't told them that Gajeel-kun isn't Juvia's husband._ And though the thought was in her mind, Juvia could not bring herself to say it.

"So," Sachiko leaned conspiratorially towards her. "Where is it?"

Before Juvia could answer, there was a clattering sound at the front door as someone opened and closed it. Kicking off their jacket and bag.

"Juvia. I'm home! They ended early today, some punkass kid didn't listen to me and accidentally set the principal's hair on fire. Tch. Stupid kid. I told him not to do it. But no. He just ignored me. Anyways, is there anything to eat, I'm star-" Gajeel cut himself off abruptly as he stood in the kitchen doorway, to find Juvia seated at the table with four middle aged women.

"Uhm, Gajeel-kun. You remember the women I told you about?"

He nodded woodenly, trying to figure out the quickest and safest way to retreat.

"Say hello to Elmira-san, Matilda-san, Eliza-san and Sachiko –san." Juvia smiled timidly at him. Before Gajeel could say anything, the four women pounced on him.

"So you're Gajeel! This is the first time I've seen you up close. You're a real cutie!" Eliza tugged him toward the table, sitting him down next to Juvia. Elmira quickly prepared a plate of food for him and Matilda sat across from him with Sachiko, studying him with excitement.

"Juvia-san, your husband is the strong but silent type, right?" Matilda grinned at Juvia's bright red face and her objections.

"Husband?" Gajeel looked at Juvia in utter confusion, who flushed under his gaze.

"So where are your wedding rings? I haven't seen Juvia wear one the entire time I've known her."

"Wedding rings?!" Gajeel was getting more and more confused the more these women talked. He hadn't the slightest idea what was going on.

"We, we didn't have any!" Juvia interrupted.

"You didn't? Why ever not?" Elmira asked, surprised.

Juvia studiously avoided making eye contact with Gajeel as she explained.

"We left our previous home...very suddenly. It was unprepared and unplanned which didn't allow us the luxury of things like...rings." Juvia finished, still not looking at Gajeel.

"Oh you poor darlings! It must have been so hard on you!" Eliza gushed tearily at them.

"Ah! Elmira, the boys will be getting home soon! We have to go!" Sachiko suddenly looked at clock and began to gather her things.

"You're right! Sorry Juvia-chan. We'll see you tomorrow!" Then, suddenly, the whirlwind that had been these women suddenly disappeared, leaving Gajeel and Juvia very much alone.

After a moments' silence, Gajeel turned to Juvia.

"Husband?"

Juvia flinched.

"Why do they think I'm your husband?"

Juvia got up from her seat with some difficulty. She was of sizable girth now, Gajeel thought, watching her walk to the stove. He remembered when the first bump had appeared and Juvia had been so excited. Even more so when they had first felt the baby kick.

"You see, when Juvia first came here and met them, they automatically assumed that Juvia and Gajeel-kun were married and Juvia couldn't...wasn't able to..." She trailed of guiltily.

Gajeel sighed.

"I get it."

"Eh?" Juvia looked at him startled. _Did Gajeel-kun figure out that Juvia is feeling funny around him._

"Yeah. It's gonna be hard to explain our situation to them. So it's easier to pretend we're married and more convenient for us too." Gajeel shrugged and dug into the food.

"Oh uhm. Yes. Juvia thought so too." Juvia didn't know why, but suddenly, she felt a little upset.

Gajeel on the other hand, remained confused.

_Husband? You mean people have been thinking of us as a married couple the entire time?_

Some how the thought didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

_**Well you have to admit. It wouldn't be so bad to wake to that piece of work everyday.** _

Gajeel suddenly had a vision of Juvia greeting him at the front door of his own house, in her normal clothes, and kissing him passionately, saying:

" _Welcome home darling!"_

 _Stop that!_ Gajeel chastised himself, groaning inwardly. It abruptly dawned on him as he watched Juvia's plump figure bustle cutely around the kitchen, cleaning up, that his feelings for her were no longer platonic.

He dropped his spoon on the table, the utensil emitting a loud clatter that startled Juvia.

"Gajeel-kun?" He got up from the table and began walking towards the front door.

"Gajeel-kun?! Where are you going?" He didn't dare look at her now. He wasn't sure what kind of expression he was making and he would die first before he let her see him blushing.

"O-out. I'm jus' gonna take a walk. I'll be back soon."

"Okay?" Juvia watched him leave in confusion.

_What just happened? Juvia hopes that Gajeel-kun didn't think Juvia was acting funny. But Juvia is glad Gajeel didn't discover her secret. If he found out, that Juvia was maybe...in love with him, he would surely not want to stay with Juvia anymore. It's clear to Juvia that Gajeel only thinks of Juvia as a friend._

_Just a friend._

... ... ...

 _Juvia? Juvia. JUVIA?! No, no. That can't be right. Levy. Levy. I like Levy. The bookworm. The shrimp._ Gajeelgroaned and sat down on a rock a little farther into the forest.

 _If I'm in love with Juvia, then what about Levy?_ Gajeel realized that though he had believed he was in love with the book-a-holic, it was really more that he harboured a soft spot for her, since her heart was so forgiving to him. He did love her. Just maybe not as much as he now loved Juvia. He'd known Juvia since his Phantom Lord days, since Jose had brought her to the guild, a cold, empty albeit eccentric shell. She had seen the worst, the evilest side of him and yet, she believed he was a kind, good person. He remembered scoffing at her, thinking her to be yet another weak woman and he made no effort to cover up the fact that he was calling her out.

 _What_ a mistake.

Laughing to himself, Gajeel looked at the jagged scar on his bicep, a result of the ensuing battle between himself and the rain-woman. She wiped the floor with him.

Literally.

Then she'd thrown him out the fourth floor window and straight to the ground below, overwhelming him with the sheer flow of her power.

And while he was resilient, it didn't mean he couldn't get hurt. And he had. Badly. In the end, it was Juvia who had nursed his unwilling self back to health. Ignoring all the curses he threw at her. It was the only way he'd known to hold on to his broken pride. It didn't bode well if Jose's right hand man was defeated by a girl wielding a parasol.

Gajeel sighed. Things were just getting messier now. He'd never have believed it back then if you had told him he would fall in love with the ame-onna. But he had. And now, he had to think of a plan of action. It was obvious he couldn't tell Juvia. She had been rejected by the man she had loved with all her soul, then been raped by someone who'd told her she was worth nothing, and now she was pregnant.

There was way too much on her plate to be dealing with _him_ right now he decided. Besides, telling her would be like throwing any sense of normalcy they had now right out the window. He couldn't risk that. Not when Juvia had just learned how to smile again. Juvia's happiness was his first priority and nothing would get in the way of that. Nothing. No matter what, her happiness was something he would protect.

Resolve set in place, Gajeel trudged back towards the house. Upon walking back in, he found Juvia pacing in the living room in circles.

"Juvia?" Her head snapped up and her expression turned to one of relief.

"Oh thank mavis."

"What's wrong?" Gajeel asked, concerned over her anxiousness.

"What's wrong?! Juvia was worried! Gajeel-kun said he would be back soon! It's been an hour!" He pointed a finger accusingly at him.

"S-sorry?'

"Sit down and finish your dinner. Gajeel-kun has barely touched it. Juvia is mad at you." Gajeel sat down at the table again, noting that his food had been re-heated.

"Yeah sorry about that." The rest of the time he spent eating dinner, Gajeel watched Juvia out of the corner of his eye. Everything was so different when you realized you loved the person you previously thought was only a friend.

After dinner, Juvia went upstairs to prepare for bed and get the room ready for sleeping, while Gajeel sat preparing the next day's lesson plan and marking assignment papers.

He heard a faint buzz suddenly and looked in his bag, dropping everything, searching for his communication lacrima. He finally pulled out the crystal ball-esque contraption, setting it on the table as he answered it.

"Hello?"

... ... ...

"Alright. We've been searching for this bastard for months. I think we've finally got them this received intel on their current position. With the help of Lamia Scale, we should be able to corner them properly this time." Erza stood on the stage in the back of the guild, addressing the members. Lucy, Levy, Natsu, Wendy, Gray, and Cana stood at the forefront. Happy, Carla and Pantherlily sat on the stage for a better vantage point.

"This time, we're gonna get each and every one of them. However I don't want _any_ of you to underestimate them. I said it before, they were hit men first and mages second. What they lack in magic they make up for in manipulation, coercion and brute strength. So when you take them down, take. Them. Down. Make sure they stay unconscious. If you can render them unconscious –"

"Aren't we missing someone?" The voice came from behind Erza and they turned to see the Guild Master walk out, carrying a projection communication lacrima.

"Missing someone? Who could we be missing?" Gray called out, impatient to get back to planning for tomorrow's raid.

"Gajeel."

The buzz of guild conversation died down at the mention of the Iron Dragon Slayer. Since the day of his confrontation with Gray, he had returned to the guild only a handful of times. Each time he would always speak with the master and then leave, sometimes taking Wendy with him. Gray had attempted to speak to him but had been rebuffed with a curt.

"Until you decide what you want to do about Juvia, I don't want to hear anything from you." Erza looked at the Master questioningly.

"But how are we going to -?"

"Gajeel will want to be there when we take Amon down." With that, the lacrima whirred to life and in moments with a click, Gajeel's studded face appeared in the screen on the wall.

"Hello?"

Erza stared at the image. Gajeel had even refused to speak to her beyond a few words, this was the first time she'd seen him in months. He appeared to be in a house, the lighting around him was dim and homey.

"Ah, Gajeel."

"Yo."

"How are things on your end?" The master asked, and the guild realized rapidly that wherever Gajeel was, Juvia was with him. This had occurred to Gray to as he was now watching the screen intently as if committing it to memory.

"Good. Yeah, we're doing okay. I guess." There was an odd blush on his otherwise stony face that the Master chose not to comment on, though it was definitely noted.

"Glad to hear it. Now. To business. We found him."

Natsu watched with apprehension as Gajeel's expression darkened.

"Where?"

"In a forest on the south side of Hargeon city."

"So you're going tomorrow."

"It's a guild of 200 mages, minimum. They seemed to have gained members. So the whole guild is going. Whatever you do, Juvia can't know. She'll get anxious and she's in her 8th month now, right?"

Cana felt Gray stiffen next to her. With her absence, it was easy to forget that Juvia was pregnant.

"Yeah. Oh. Gray." Gajeel's eyes zeroed on the ice mage, causing him to jump slightly.

"Just so you know. We know who the father is."

Gray gulped.

"And?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"It's yours. Juvia's been accidentally freezing things for a month now." Gajeel held up a frozen mug wryly.

"Trust me. I want to beat you half to death right now, but I'm also kinda glad it was yours. I don't know what would have happened to Juvia if it was _his._ "

Gray sighed. He could relate. He was half relieved and half filled with dread with the news.

"Uh, where is Juvia-chan, Gajeel-kun?" Lucy asked. She hadn't seen the water mage in 8 months and was worried about her wellbeing.

"Juvia," He sighed, running a gloved hand through his black unruly hair. "You know Juvia doesn't want – "

"Gajeel-kun."

The whole guild jumped in sync at the voice of mage in question. Everyone watched as Juvia walked into their field of vision, climbing down the stairs, very obviously pregnant, dressed in a blue satin night gown that reached her mid thighs, highlighting her pregnant belly. Her hair had grown longer as well, Lucy noted, the blue tresses now reached to the middle of her back.

"Gajeel-kun, are you coming to bed soon?" Their view of the woman was obscured suddenly when Gajeel threw his jacket over the lacrima.

"Y-yeah. Gimme a minute." They heard Juvia's now disembodied voice agree and fade into the background. When Gajeel uncovered the lacrime, his ears were a suspicious red to the astonishment of the guild.

"So. Tomorrow right? I'll be there." His expression turned dark again. "No one touches Amon, that son of a bitch is _mine_." With that eloquent declaration, Gajeel suddenly cut the transmission, leaving them staring at a black screen.

The guild was silent following the communication. In all of their thoughts, there was only one thought reigning supreme.

_If Gajeel was...to Juvia. Then, what about Levy?_

"Oi! You don't really think Metal-head's got a thing for Juvia-chan?!" Wakaba hoarse whispered to Macao.

"Idiot! Sssshhh!" Macao hit him, pointing to Levy, standing still, staring at the black screen.

Lucy turned almost fearfully to the bluenette in question and almost wished she hadn't.

The script mage stood, silent, hands clenched at her sides.

"Levy-chan..." Mira Jane reached out hesitantly. Levy looked up suddenly, smiling, startling the take over mage.

"Wow! That was a surprise, seeing Juvia chan like that. Did you see Gajeel's face? He's got it bad haha. I suspected as much, what with them being from the same guild and all. I'm happy for him, it's not like it matter to me. I'm fine with it. I'm fine..."Tears began to swim in the girls eyes, streaming down her face. She raised a hand, almost questioningly to them, as if surprised by them.

"Eh?" She laughed, voice shaking. "Why am I crying? It's not like I care. I'm happy for him. I'm...urghh...I'm happy." Levy forced out, her voice clogged with tears, frantically rubbing at the tears, as her guildmates watched sorrowfully. She finally succumbed, and collapsed to the floor in front of Erza and the Master. Lucy was instantly at her side as was every other female member of the guild. Levy began to sob harder and harder, her hands over her face, repeating one phrase over and over like a mantra. Like a spell that she desperately wished were true.

"I'm fine. I'm happy..."


	9. Be Safe

Chapter 9:

Gajeel lay in bed, wide awake, next to a woman, he never would have imagined he would fall in love with. He groaned quietly and covered his face with his hands.

Against his better judgment, he had fallen for the one person that he shouldn't have. She had been his partner for more years than he could count. She was his other half, more than he had cared to realize beforehand. At first, she had been someone he'd looked down on. For being a woman and a water element mage. She'd won his respect by annihilating him completely, fair and square to boot . Then when Phantom Lord had been defeated by Fairy Tail, Gajeel had been astonished when he'd heard that Juvia had joined the Guild that had lead to their humiliating defeat and to top it off he was even more astonished that she had come after to him to get him to join too. Of course he'd refused, but he was slightly happy that she had thought of him too. That she cared what became of him was unsettling. It was as Gajeel lay there, next to a sleeping Juvia, that he realized she had been with him for most of his adult life. He couldn't remember a time where Juvia had ever left his side for more than a period of 2 days maximum. Even now in the guild, whether she did it consciously or not, Juvia always managed to stay with at least a 4 meter distance from him at all time. Even if she was in the middle of stalking Gray at the time, and he now realized that she was always concerned about him, even if he didn't always see it.

At the time, Gajeel had been at loss. These people were so different from the cuthroat life he was used to living with. He didn't know how he was supposed to act and it seemed he would forever be an outsider. Even then, it had been Juvia who had seemingly read his mind and told him in all seriousness that his past didn't matter so long as he was willing to learn from his mistakes. She just sat with him after that. She let him brood but she didn't leave him alone either. It occurred to him that Juvia had always made it a point in her life to be near him, since they were friends.

And now, when she had needed him the most, the only time she had ever needed his help, he'd failed her. By not protecting her, by letting this happen to her, by letting her get her heart broken.

Even worse, he'd seen it in Gray's eyes whenever he interacted with Juvia that the woman was nothing more than a comrade and would never become anything more. Still, he'd let Juvia continue to run around behind him like an abandoned puppy dog and watched idly as he crushed her heart a little more every time he rejected her. He just watched as she declared herself to Gray over and over again, watching him and everyone else brush her feelings off as if they were nothing. When he thought of it now, his blood boiled.

He sighed. Things just couldn't fucking get any worse. The whole situation was getting too complicated for him to keep up. Ever since Wendy had revealed that the baby's father was indeed Gray, Gajeel had been torn between wanting to punch him silly and being relieved that it didn't belong to the rapist.

But now what?

The days where impregnating a woman meant marriage were long past, but on the other hand, why should Juvia have to shoulder the responsibility of his drunken whims? She shouldn't have to bring up the child on her own.

He decided that if he could, if she would allow him, he would become the kid's foster father. Like Metallicana was for him. He wouldn't let the kid feel unwanted, not that he would, given how affectionate Juvia was, Gajeel strongly suspected that the kid would become largely hands-off in nature.

He sighed again. At least in the midst of the confusion, there was one thing that made sense. Today was the day he would get revenge. The bastard would regret even looking at Juvia when Gajeel was done with him. Gajeel would make sure that he - and the world - would know what it meant to lay your hands on a Dragon's mate.

And that brought him to his next problem.

It was as Metallicana had predicted, the attraction to the woman he wanted was so strong it was unbearable. The problem was whether Juvia would accept him. he didn't think he could handle rejection, but he couldn't keep it to himself either, or when spring came around, history would repeat itself but this time, he would be the one to destroy her.

Gajeel got up and walked to the bedroom window, staring out at the night-time forest below. It was painfully clear that he would not be getting any sleep tonight. he leaned against the window frame.

He didn't want to ruin what he had with Juvia. The comfort that had been built through years of carefully getting to know each other. He didn't want to confuse her more, but for her own good he had to tell her. He doubted that when it came down to it, neither Natsu nor even Erza would be able to stop him. Natsu had never seen a dragon slayer in that state. It would over power him completely, if not trigger his own desires first.

Gajeel decided he would tell her after she had the baby. When everything was over and done.

" _Mnngh_. Ah!" Gajeel turned around to see Juvia half sitting up, propped up on one elbow, the other hand on her stomach. Gajeel sat down on the bed next to her.

"Ya alright?" He asked, trying not to look at the dangerously low neck of her night gown.

"F-fine. Juvia is fine. The baby is just kicking a lot. Phew." She gasped again. "You want to feel it?" Juvia asked, without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. Almost immediately, he felt the tiny kicks of the infant.

He remembered the first time the baby had kicked vividly. He and Juvia had been sitting in the living room trying to decide on baby names for the kid.

" _What about Gollum?" Gajeel asked in all seriousness. Juvia wrinkled her nose._

" _No offense Gajeel kun. But Juvia thinks that the baby would hate us if we named it that."_

" _Okay, fine." Gajeel said, slightly miffed. Juvia giggled and patted his arm._

" _Let's do baby girl names first. How about Mildred?"_

_Gajeel looked at her incredulously._

" _Now that's a name that would make it hate us. What about Roseanna or Ruby?" He suggested._

" _I think – oh!" Juvia suddenly went rigid, and dropped the pen in her hand on the table, letting it fall with a loud clatter._

" _Juvia? Oi. What's wrong?"_

" _Oh!" Juvia gasped again and jerked slightly, clutching her stomach and gaped at Gajeel wide eyed._

" _G-Gajeel-kun. It…It kicked." She said weakly, voice faint from shock._

" _What?" Gajeel could hardly believe his ears._

" _It kicked!"_

" _It kicked?!"_

" _It kicked!"_

" _Yes!" Laughing, Gajeel picked Juvia up in his excitement and spun them in a circle. He set her down breathlessly, gazing at her. Juvia took his left hand in hers and put on her stomach._

" _Here, look, feel it."_

_The second Gajeel felt the faint movement, he fell speechless. It occurred to him, that there was another person inside. A human being._

" _That's…amazing. It's a whole actual person." Juvia smiled and sat down on the couch, picking up the pen and twirling it between her fingers_

" _Yes. It is."_

" _Aren't you scared?" The question slipped out before he could stop himself._

_**Idiot! He scolded himself. Why would you ask her that? Like she isn't worried enough with out you pointing it out.** _

_**Shut up! I didn't mean to! It just sorta came out!** _

_**Is that supposed to be a believable excuse?** _

_**Shut upppp!** _

" _A little." Juvia admitted, bringing Gajeel out of his internal infighting. "Juvia gets scared sometimes, butt then she sees Gajeel-kun and she feels like if Gajeel-kun is with her, than she could even conquer the world if she wanted to." Gajeel laughed at the strange comparison._

" _Haha. Conquer the world? You got world domination on the brain rain woman?"_

Gajeel coaxed Juvia back into lying down.

"Come on. Let's go back to sleep. I'm tired and I have to leave in an hour."

When Gajeel got up next, Juvia was fast asleep and didn't even stir as Gajeel ran around the room grabbing his clothes and shoving them on.

He stood over her before he left, watching her breath steadily, enjoying the calmness and serenity he had worked so hard to achieve for her. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and studied the pale skin.

"I promise you Juvia, today, you will have revenge. He _will_ pay for what he's done." He whispered to her.

With one last look at the fair blue haired woman from the bedroom doorway, Gajeel turned and walked out the front door.

Today, it would end.

… … …

Alright, we have them surrounded, and as far as I can tell, they have no idea we're even here." Erza briefed the guild members on their situation from her perch up in a tree.

"Are you sure? I'm tired of these morons slipping through our fingers every time we get close." Levy stepped forward, arms crossed over her chest. The rest of the guild eyed her warily. It was clear the petite woman was on edge, given that Gajeel was due to show up at any given time. Everyone wondered how she would act in front of him, and whether or not she would confront the man about his apparent infatuation with Juvia.

"Yes, I'm sure. Fried has the whole place surrounded by rune traps and barriers and Natsu and Romeo will use fire to corral them once inside." A rustling off to the right of the group cut Erza off. Everyone tensed waiting and suddenly Gajeel came trudging into view, smacking his arms irately.

"Sonovabitch. I hate these things."

For a moment, everyone just watched and then at his expectant stare, they broke out into scattered calls of greeting which acknowledged with a wave of his hands.

"Have we got 'em for sure this time?"

Erza nodded.

"Yeah. We've set up traps all over the place. There's no way they'll get away this time."

Just then, Master Makarov appeared, signalling the start of the raid.

Gajeel trailed behind the group and unexpectedly found himself walking next to Levy. Which brought him back to his previous dilemma that he was facing before the woman he once loved and the woman that currently held his heart.

It was silent for a time and Gajeel found himself wondering how he would tell her.

_I don't love you?_

No, that would be a lie. He did love her. Just not the way he loved Juvia.

_We're not meant to be together?_

Better but still not –

"You love her, don't you?" The question was abrupt but it was soft and gentle. There was no malice or hostility in it. Only a calm finality, coupled with a little hope. Like he would say no. Gajeel closed his eyes and sighed.

"Yes."

He owed her the truth and he would not sink so low as to lie.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry"

"Why are you apologizing?" Her voice suddenly became harsh. Gajeel looked at her in surprise.

"I just –"

"Are you sorry you fell in love with Juvia?"

"No!"

"Then? Never apologize if you haven't done anything to warrant it." Gajeel could only mutely nod his head in agreement.

"Besides, it's not like you ever said you loved me. I hope, for your sake, that Juvia returns your feelings. I don't want you to feel the way I'm feeling right now." Gajeel tentatively glanced at her and caught sight of the unshed tears swimming in her eyes. He flinched. That was the last thing he'd wanted. He watched wordlessly as she sped up and joined strides with Cana, who immediately began fussing over her.

He sighed again. He'd never wanted to hurt her, but he couldn't help the way he felt. Before this had happened, he'd truly believed that he was in love with the script mage.

He suddenly saw everyone tense and realized they'd reached the enemy camp without noticing it. He forced the emotional thoughts out of his head and focused on the task ahead. Right now, they were going to avenge Juvia. By the time he was done, these morons would wish that they'd die ten times rather than face him again. He cracked his neck and knuckles.

It was payback time.

With a roar, the entire, the entire guild burst forth from the forest and into the campsite sending the inhabitants into a panic. It instantly turned to chaos as members of the gang attempted to flee and found themselves blocked by the rune wall and traps set by Levy and Fried. Seconds later, huge rings of fire erupted inside the barrier, making their opponents yell in surprise. Evergreen, carried by Elfman assisted them by turning the noisier one into stone. Natsu, Erza and Gray finished up by breaking down the strongest fighters. Gajeel however wasn't interested in any of this. He had his eyes set on one person, one that he couldn't seem to locate in the fray.

A dry laugh sounded off to his right and he turned to find a man with purple shaggy hair buried in the ground, no doubt the work of Virgo. Gajeel brought a steel toed boot down on his exposed shoulder. The man didn't even bat an eyelash and kept laughing.

"You idiots think you're so smart."

"Hah?"

"Are you really this stupid? You think it's this easy to catch us? It took you guys eight months to track us down. How long do you think we've been doing this? Even the council hasn't been able to catch us. What makes you think you can?"

Gajeel snorted and dug his foot in deeper.

"Cocky bastard. Maybe you haven't noticed, but you're up to your armpits in dirt and the rest of your pathetic guild is being flambéed by Salamander." He gestured to the fight with a thumb pointed over his shoulder. The man laughed harder, almost maniacally this time.

"You really are idiots. We _let_ you catch us. Look around smarty pants. Isn't someone missing. You were so busy tracking us that you didn't notice someone give you the slip. It just as well. It took him a while to find her, but I hear Juvia-sama is doing quite well in Galdrom, Amon has gone to deliver his greetings and heard that the rain woman has a gift for him. It'll be a touching reunion, don't you think?"

Gajeel cursed and punched him, knocking the man out cold.

"Salamander! Titania! Bunny Girl! Fullbuster! We've been tricked. This was a decoy. He's going after Juvia." He then turned and sprinted through the forest at top speed praying. Pantherlily, Gray, Natsu Lucy and Erza were hot on his trail. Gajeel cursed internally, he'd been tricked and now Juvia wasin danger again!

_Please, please, please be safe!_


	10. In The Way

Juvia could scarcely believe the sight in front of her as she sat shocked on her kitchen floor, staring up at her worst nightmare. He was here! In the place she thought she would be safe from him. It infuriated her that he was invading her last vestige of peace. What made her even more angry was the fact that just the sight of him made her want to run. Her! Juvia Locksar. She wasn't afraid of anything!

Except of him.

Only him.

He was the only person in the world that had rendered her completely helpless to her circumstances. No matter how hard she had struggled against him, it ha been useless.

"What do you want now?" She said, getting heavily back on her feet. Any feeling of defeat she had was gone, after all there few things he could do now and at the moment, her duty lay with her unborn child. She had to protect it.

"What more could you possibly want from Juvia? What could you want that you haven't taken already? Juvia's peace of mind, Juvia's life, Juvia's family, Juvia's friends. What more?" Juvia said all this calmly. If she could, she wanted to settle this without having to fight, although she knew that was a silly hope. If she fought in her current state, she posed a threat both to herself and her child.

Amon hadn't flinched even in the slightest from her words, choosing instead to look her over slowly. He stuffed his hands nonchalantly in his pockets, leaning against the doorframe to the entrance of the kitchen.

"im here simply because you have something of mine m'dear." The corners of his mouth curled in amusement as he saw Juvia's face go white with the implications and her arms automatically clutched her stomach.

"You see Juvia darling. Anyone who got pregnant before aborted it immediately. If you had done the same thing, we wouldn't be in this situation right now. If only you'd killed it. But since you haven't, here we stand." He took a step closer, ignoring the fact that Juvia had taken a step back as well.

"You choosing to keep the baby puts me in a hard position you see. If you testify against me and have that brat with you, then it makes it easy for the council to get me. You do understand what I'm trying to say, don't you?"

Juvia stilled as his intentions sunk in.

"Y-you-" Juvia stuttered, eyes wide, not believing her own thoughts. Surely he wouldn't be so cruel as to…?

"You wouldn't –"

"Kill a child? Of course I would. Are you stupider than you look or what? It's just a brat. What does it matter to you anyway? You would hate the child regardless. Every time you would look at it, all you would remember is my face. It's better off dead."

"It's not just any child! It could be your child! You would kill your own flesh and blood?!"

"All the better to kill it of course. It's what stands between me and my freedom. And you too actually." He said, suddenly eyeing her in a way she didn't like at all. "You know, I heard a curious thing before. Sometimes if a woman miscarries, the mother and child both die. " He cracked his knuckles.

"Isn't that convienient."

. . .

"Where did Gajeel go?!" Cana yelled as she round house kicked the last of her opponents down. Looking around her, Cana noted in satisfaction that they had completely annihilated the pathetic gang.

"He took off with Erza and the others a while back! I think they went after the Guild Master. " Macao yelled back, punching a man square in the face. Cana nodded, turning to survey their situation when suddenly she heard coughing and looked to see a man buried to his neck in dirt. She crouched down, observing the ground around the man who was slowly returning to consciousness. Getting the jerk out of the ground would a process. Virgo's master piece's always were. Suddenly the man began to laugh, taking Cana by surprise.

"You guys think yer some kind of heroes don't you?" He sneered at her. Cana grabbed his hair and yanked his head back.

"Wanna say that again punk?"

He spat on the ground in front of her.

"Better prepare the coffins babe. The bitch and her brat wont be around much longer." Cana stared at him in shock, nearly toppling over when Macao reached over and punched him in the face, uncharacteristic snarl on his face.

"Shut up you worthless piece of shit." He turned to Cana and patted her shoulder. "Calm down. As if Juvia's gonna let herself get taken out by someone like that piece of work. She'll be fine."

"I sure hope you're right."

. . .

Juvia gasped for air, crouching on the ground. The entire first floor of the house was destroyed. The psychopath had been chasing her around the house like he was playing with her, aiming energy blasts close enough to hit her but not quite. She got the feeling she was being batted around like a lion would to his prey before devouring it. As another blast exploded above her, Juvia huddled into the cavity beneath the stairs, trying to think of an escape route.

On any normal day, she would have stood her ground and fought, probably annihilating him too,. However, times had changed and she was heavily pregnant. Excessive movement could cause her to miscarry or give birth prematurely. And if the later happened in his presence, both she and the baby were as good dead.

A harsh hand came down on her wrist, dragging her out roughly.

"You're actually going to hide from me ? In here? Are you seriously an idiot?"

Juvia struggled against his grip, trying to pry his fingers off. She wished in that moment that she could use her magic but being pregnant, she didn't know what offensive magic would do to her child and erred on the side of caution.

"Let Juvia go! The child is not yours! Leave Juvia alone!" She yelled, twisting her wrist, trying to get away from him.

"Does it matter? I don't know if you've noticed, the child isn't the only target here. I need you out of my way, whether the brat is mine or not."

He yanked her arm to pull her close to him but Juvia mustered enough strength to pull herself away from him and made a last ditch effort to sprint to the front door.

 _The more Juvia runs, the more the baby is in danger. If Juvia lets him bat her around this, the baby will suffer._ Juvia thought to herself frantically. A grabbed her suddenly, wrenching her around and flinging her across the room so her back hit the fireplace mantle, sending pain shooting through her back. She hurriedly, tried to pick herself off the floor, shuffling backwards until the wall stopped her.

"Why are you doing this?!" Juvia cried, mortified that things had come this. Where she would plead with her attacker in such an undignified manner. A manner unbefitting a Fairy Tail mage. She clutched her stomach and sharp pains began pulsing in her abdomen. She sincerely hoped that they were a result of being treated like a rag doll and not what she thought they were.

It seemed that Amon had had enough of messing around and loomed over her. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her.

"Ah!" She shrieked in pain.

"It's very simple. I want something, you're in the way, so I'm getting rid of you." He gathered another explosive energy blast in his hand

"At this point, most people would say something like 'I'm sorry I have to do this blah blah blah.' But, why lie? I'm not really sorry, although I do regret not being able to play a bit more."

He brought his hand up high, ready to strike as Juvia frantically struggled to get away. Suddenly her hand slipped on the floor as something slick covered her hand. She looked down and realized to her horror that a pool of blood now surrounded her as her contractions got worse.

She looked up at Amon, seeing no remorse in his face, only euphoria and screamed, raising her free hand up to try and shield herself.

The door burst open just as his hand came down in a blinding flash of light.

"JUVIA!"


	11. Left Feet

**Chapter 10: Left Feet**

**A/N: *hidesbehindshield* Hi guys. Its been a while. Haha. I really am sorry. My account got hacked and I couldn't get in to update. I don't know what I did, but some how I managed to get in! Anyways. Here's the next chapter. For those reading my Skip Beat Fanfic Hands Off, the update for that is coming soon! Do read and review!**

Gajeel barreled through the door swinging a giant mace he'd lifted off one of the Broken Shield members from the earlier fight, clocking Amon squarely in the face.

His shoulders heaved from the effort of pushing his limits to get there before any harm could come to Juvia. He knew that on a normal day, the guy would have been easily disposed of by Juvia. Probably without even breaking a sweat. But this was different, she wouldn't be able to move fast enough, nor would she want to at the cost of harming the child.

Natsu and Erza made their way inside just seconds after Gajeel and saw Amon get up from the hit, seething from the blow, bleeding heavily from his nose and large gash on his cheek.

"Son of a bitch," he growled at the Dragon Slayer. "Scram, I don't have time for you bastards." He turned and spun rapidly, to kick the air, sending a jagged blue blot of energy flying at him. Gajeel ducked and threw himself at the mage, Natsu in tow. He'd had enough of this average mage causing more trouble than he was worth. Ordinarily, this problem wouldn't have existed if Juvia hadn't been so out of it. He growled, growing angrier as he thought about how Juvia must have felt as he had done those unspeakable things to her. Remembering how she had cried when she'd first told him what had happened.

Gajeel wound his fist back and punched the man in the stomach, knocking him flat on his back. Behind him, the hit he'd let off earlier had crashed into the ceiling above Juvia, dislodging more debris, sending it flying down towards her.

"Juvia watch out!" Lucy yelled as she huffed and puffed her way into the house, arriving later than her Fairy Tail counterparts. Erza raised her shield over them, wincing as large wooden beams came crashing down, willing the shield to allow her to protect her friend.

Juvia stirred to consciousness after having fainted from her fear earlier, struggling to sit up under the Ex-quip mage's iron grip.

"Erza." She gasped, doubling over and grabbing her stomach. Her eyes squinted shut as she struggled to compose herself. "Erza something's wrong. Erza." She managed to eke out, hands clenching over the fabric of her dress, feeling a piercing pain that filled her with fear. Juvia made eye contact with Erza and felt her eyes roll up into her head and though she tried hard not to, she fainted again.

It was only when Erza brought her hand up to pat the girl's cheek, did she notice the blood pooled around Juvia. Her eyes widened and she screamed for Gajeel.

"GAJEEL. DROP IT. HE'S NOT WORTH IT. SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH JUVIA."

Natsu and Gajeel froze, despite having cornered Amon upstairs in the bedroom on the second floor. Without a second thought or glance, Gajeel turned and sprinted down the stairs. Amon took advantage of the momentary confusion to leap out the window, breaking it with his elbow. He fled into the forest as Natsu hesitated, half out the window, unsure of whether to pursue the criminal or help Juvia. Then he smelled copious amounts of blood and cursed. He turned and ran down the stairs as well, choosing the wellbeing of his friend over catching the one who did her harm.

…..

When Natsu reached the living room, he saw Gajeel cradling Juvia's head in his lap, panicking as blood dripped steadily off her thigh.

"What the hell do I do? Hospital. That's right, she needs to go to the hospital." He started out the door but then suddenly stopped.

"But there's only a clinic here. They won't be able to help!" Gajeel cried, frustrated. He couldn't decide what to do but the more he hesitated the more dangerous Juvia's situation became.

"For now, let's go to Fiore. If you run at your fastest you could be there in 30 minutes. If we get Wendy to help, Juvia might be alright."

Gajeel's mind raced, he wasn't at leisure to think slowly about this but he had no choice. He scooped Juvia up into his arms and ran out of the house, praying he was doing the right thing.

….

"Guys," Warren motioned to Wakaba, Macao and Cana at the same time broadcasting a wide range telepathic message to the guild members. "Juvia's gone into labor. Gajeel and the others are bringing her to Fiore General Hospital but they need Wendy to meet them halfway, they don't know how dangerous her condition is but they want to prevent anything from happening."

"Got it!" Wendy jumped up, with Charla grabbing onto her, flying in Gajeel's direction, Fiore's northern forest, trying her fastest to reach them as soon as she could. Moments after she had left and Warren had left to deliver the Broken Shield members to the Council Jail, Cana nudged Macao.

"Pst. Look."

Macao turned to look and saw Gray come trudging towards them, hands shoved in his pockets with his head down.

"Gray?" The mage's head shot up to make eye contact with the older man and flushed.

"What happened? Didn't you leave with Gajeel and Natsu to find Juvia?"

A guilty look passed over Gray's face and he flinched at the confused look on Cana's face.

" I couldn't do it." He mumbled, he hung his head, ashamed of himself. Cana sighed and Macao eyes hardened.

"Couldn't do what Fullbuster?" He asked. Gray didn't dare look up. Macao rarely ever took that tone with him, and when he did, it was when Gray had done something inexcusable.

"I couldn't … I couldn't face her. I didn't know what I would say."

He crouched on the ground, punching it, one hand fisting in his blue hair.

"Gray. Is that really important right now? Juvia could have died. What if Gajeel and the others had needed help? Is this going to be your excuse if something goes wrong? You can't run away when something like this happens."

"I…" Gray couldn't find the words to finish his thoughts.

"Well you're lucky. She's fine. She'll be here in 20 minutes tops." Cana said, squinting towards the north forest as if hoping to see them come flying out.

Gray's head snapped up in surprise.

"Here? I thought she was in Galdrom?" Cana cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Did you not hear Warren's message?" He shook his head in the negative.

"No. I didn't get here until 5 minutes ago. I was out of range I guess. What happened?"

Cana and Macao exchanged looks and sighed.

"Juvia's gone into labor they think, they're trying to hurry to bring her to Fiore General. That's where we're going right now."

Gray froze. He knew logically, that he should just drop everything and rush to Juvia's side, but in the back of his mind, Gray admitted to himself that he was scared. The Juvia who planned her day around his, the Juvia who yelled that she loved him almost as often as she breathed…how did she feel about him now? Did she blame him? Hate him?

He was afraid to find out.

Suddenly, in his mind, he could hear Warren's urgent voice, loud and shrill.

"Attention all Fairy Tail members. Juvia is in Fiore. She is being taken to the Maternity ward as I speak. Anyone who can hear this is ordered by the Master to assemble at the Hospital. Amon is still at large and his whereabouts are currently unknown. He could attack her at her weakest. This is an order to protect and deflect any and all offensive measures to Juvia."

Warren's voice faded and Gray turned to look at his friends who smiled at him encouragingly.

"Looks like you've got a second chance to right by her, kid. If that scum shows up within 100 miles of our girl, we'll take him out before he can so much as breathe in her direction."

Gray squared his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. He would deal with his guilt to Juvia later. For now, he would focus on annihilating the man that had his attacked his family.

…..

Gajeel paced tersely in the waiting room, hating the place more than he'd ever hated anything before. All he could hear was Juvia's moans and pants.

He and Natsu winced every time Juvia screamed, with Lucy trembling hand clutching Natsu's arm tighter with every shriek. As far as Gajeel could tell, she wasn't even close to done.

He turned to ask Natsu about the other guild members when he saw the whole crowd of them come parading towards them from the other end of the hallway.

Wakaba reached them first, panting from running Gajeel guessed.

"Gajeel _*wheeze*_ we got here as fast –"

"AUGH!" A shrill shriek sounded from Juvia's room, making everyone jump and glance at her door, frightened.

"Yikes." Cana said. Juvia let out one more unearthly yell, this one seeming to possess all the strength she could muster and then suddenly everything went quiet. All that could be heard was the bustling of the orderlies and nurses within the room. Everyone held their breaths, unsure of what the silence meant.

Then, the shrill cry of an infant filled the air and everyone let out a thunderous roar of celebration, cheering that Juvia's child had been born.

Only Gajeel and Gray remained silent, the former because he couldn't be happy until he knew his partner was safe and the latter for contemplating how much he changed his friend's life and what he could do to make things right.

A nurse suddenly opened the door and smiled at them, hair slicked with sweat, and breathing heavily, the bottom part of her gown splattered with blood.

"Congratulations!" she beamed at them. "It's a girl and an ice mage to boot!" She said clapping her hands in joy. The guild members unceremoniously silent, remembering abruptly the crux of the problem. Suddenly no one knew what to do.

The nurse, who cheerfully identified herself as Nurse Joy, stepped to the side and gestured inside.

"The father may enter to see his child now. After that, the rest of you may see her in pairs for as long as she can weather it."

Unhesitatingly, Gajeel strode through the doors, letting the nurse shut it behind him. As he entered the room, he could smell Juvia's entire struggle. The blood, sweat and tears. He could also a familiar but unknown person. He walked past the nurse's station to see Juvia lying there on her bed, sweaty and exhausted against the pillows, cradling a small bundle in her arms.

He cautiously approached her, not wanting to startle her.

"Juvia?" The girl cracked one violet eye open and smiled at him.

"Gajeel." She breathed and her eyes instantly filled with tears. Gajeel shuffled his feet, suddenly feeling guilty for not arriving sooner.

"Sorry I couldn't get there sooner." He looked up at the sound of her laugh.

"Don't be silly. You got there in time to save Juvia. That's enough." She looked at him, beaming and motioned him closer, reaching out to tug on his hand.

"Enough about that. Come and meet Juvia's most precious person."

She turned the bundle in her arms towards him and Gajeel glimpsed for the first time, Juvia's infant daughter. She was tiny. Pale as snow a shock of silver hair, though still short and the most enchanting violet eyes he had ever seen. Maybe even more mesmerizing than Juvia's. It was astonishing how much she resembled her mother, from the bridge of her nose, to the shape of her eyes. It was her mouth and lips however, that resembled her father. The cupids bow on her lips was identical to Fullbuster's.

"Juvia was thinking, we could call her Neva."

Juvia looked at him, smiling, despite her exhaustion evident from her sweaty hair and tired limbs. Gajeel grinned toothily and bopped her affectionately on the head.

"Neva's perfect. I wonder if this one's going to be as much of a pain as you."

"Hey. Juvia is just spirited."

"Uh-huh. Tell that to my pounding head and aching back."

"Agh. You - Juvia can't ever get a break around you."

"Well – "

A soft knock came at her door and Gajeel looked at Juvia's questioning glance and scratched his neck anxiously.

"Actually, the others are here to see you too."

Juvia hesitated and then nodded, unconsciously hugging Neva to her closer.

"Come in." Gajeel said gruffly. He almost instantly regretted it. Just by the scent he knew it was Gray and he wasn't sure if Juvia could handle him yet. Before he could say anything, Gray opened the door and was standing at the foot of Juvia's bed. Juvia tensed, seeing his face, conflicted over her feelings. Did she resent him? No. It was hard not to. But she didn't. She wouldn't be so petty to mask her own culpability. She had willingly joined and Amon attacking her wasn't his fault.

She realized as she looked at him from the corner of her eye that she no longer felt butterflies around him. She nodded to Gajeel and watched him walk away only to stop to mutter something to Gray under his breath.

"Make her cry and I'll tear you limb from limb."

Then he strode out and suddenly it was just the two of them in the room. Gray remembered the last time he'd seen Juvia. At Natsu's party. She had been dressed to the nines and fawning over him as usual. Her blue hair, fur coat and sparkling eyes remained vividly in his memory. The Juvia in front of him however was someone else entirely. This Juvia was thinner than he remembered, her hair long and voluminous, spread out around her like a halo. What got him the most were her eyes. Her eyes had gained a depth he hadn't seen before. It was almost unsettling.

"Hello Gray." He noted almost absentmindedly that she was no longer calling him Gray-sama.

"Uh hi. Juvia. Hi." He replied awkwardly. He suddenly didn't know what to do with himself. He stared at the child in her arms.

"So that's her. That's – that's –"

"Our daughter." Juvia finished for him. "An ice mage. Just like you."

Gray inched forward almost reluctantly. This was real. He had a daughter. Juvia turned her towards him carefully.

She was divine little thing. With hair that shone like starlight. He reached out to touch her but yanked his hand back, remembering the situation. Juvia looked at him in surprise, blinking at his odd behavior. Did he not like her? Did he resent that Juvia had chosen to give birth to her?

"Gray? What's wrong? Why won't you touch Neva?"

Gray looked at her, bewildered. He pointed to the little girl and then at Juvia.

"You- You named her?" He asked her astonished at how calm she was. He'd though she might have rejected the child knowing he wasn't in love with her. Juvia looked at him like he'd grown two heads.

"Of course Juvia named her. Why would Juvia leave her nameless? What kind of nonsense parenting is that?" Gray looked more incredulous.

"You're going to _raise_ her? As _your_ daughter?"

Juvia narrowed her eyes. Gray wasn't making any sense with his disjointed questions but they were slowly starting to annoy her.

"Of course Juvia's going to raise her. Why would I have her only to give her away?" She sat up straight, holding Neva protectively against her chest. Gray didn't understand her at all. Before, if a woman so much as breathed in his general direction, he'd have had to pry Juvia off the poor woman but now she seemed like she couldn't have cared less about their status, even though she knew that Gray most certainly didn't love her.

"You're going to raise that child, knowing I can't give you what you want?"

…. …. …

Gajeel, Natsu and Wendy sighed . The other guild members looked at them quizzically.

"I knew he was stupid but this is a whole 'nother level of idiot."

"Tell me about it. I dunno what that Popsicle is trying prove." Natsu plugged his ears in embarrassment.

"What are you talking about?" Cana asked, perched on the arm of a chair.

"Yeah, can you hear them?" Levy asked, looking at their almost pained expressions.

"We can," said Wendy, "but I'm really almost wishing I couldn't." The trio groaned again, wincing as they followed the conversation.

"Why, what's he doing?" Wakaba asked, curious about what was going on inside. Wendy hopped around the other Dragon Slayers, trying to distract herself.

"I'll tell ya what he's doing. He's putting both left feet in his mouth."


End file.
